Our Own Family
by Shantel Lukasik
Summary: Amy was technically John's foster sister, but they only recognized each other as friends after months of unwarranted dislike from John. When she is pulled into John's escape from the terminator in 1995, it will change both their lives forever. JohnxOC
1. Chapter 1

Amy tapped her pencil against the side of her desk as she stared at the clock. She had finished with her class work which was relatively simple. Seventh grade work wasn't meant to be difficult. She watched the hands of the clock slowly circle around. 2:57. 2:58. 2:59. FREEDOM. The bell rang. Grabbing her books, she slipped them off the desk and into her hands before dashing out of the room. Her locker was right across the hall from her last class. Opening it, she threw her books in and slammed the locker shut before taking off out the front door.

"Voight, slow down," her math teacher reprimanded her, but was ignored.

Amy reached the bike racks. She found her bike and set course for home. The house wasn't far from the school so it took her only about five minutes to swing into the driveway and spot John Connor, the foster boy her parents were taking care of, working on his motorcycle. His best friend Tim sat by him. This was a normal scene, but Amy leaned on her bike and watched the two of them.

"You skipped school…again," she noted, sliding off her bicycle.

John scowled at her and picked up a wrench.

"So?"

She wheeled her bike into the garage, ignoring Tim's stare. She caught a glance of John kicking his friend out of his stupor. She smiled as Tim shrugged at his friend's irritated look. Sitting down on an upturned bucket on the other side of John's bike, she looked at him seriously.

"You're well on your way to being a delinquent."

"Need I repeat my two letter question?"

She sighed. John had always been difficult with her. She didn't dislike him. He actually intrigued her. She had horrible parents, even she knew that, but John looped his opinion of her in with them. It had resulted in unnecessary rudeness. Most of the time, he just ignored her existence.

"Why do you need to skip school along with all the other things you've been doing?"

John groaned and worked on his bike.

"Amy, seriously, mind your own business. Blame my mother for raising me like the world is going to end because of robots. Just save me your speech and go away, Goody Two-shoes."

She hesitated for a moment, slightly insulted, but got up and moved off into the house. John turned to watch her leave before going back to his bike. Tim let out an unsatisfied groan.

"Dude, your foster sister is hot. Not to mention she's the human form of candy. I've never seen her be mean to _anyone_. Why the hell do you treat her like crap?"

John ignored his mullet headed friend and the subject dropped. But John couldn't help glancing back up at the upturned bucket she had been sitting on before shaking his head.

"She's not my sister," he mumbled to himself.

When Tim had left and John went inside, he found that Amy had snuck Max into her room. She frequently did this despite the fact that her parents, Janelle and Todd, hated having the dog in the house. It irritated John slightly that Max was _his_ dog, yet he loved Amy just as much as he loved John. He slipped into her room, making her and the dog look up.

"Max," John called to the dog.

Neither moved for a moment, but Max got off her bed and went over to John. He rubbed his pet's head before looking back at Amy.

"You need to stop bringing the dog in here. Your parents will get pissed."

Amy pulled her legs up under her and pouted slightly. Her head tilted forward, her mid-back length light brown hair falling in front of her face.

"He likes me…"

"Yeah, well, he's a dog and he's old."

Amy looked up at him, a little hurt. John looked away and down at his dog. Max was looking up at him, which made him feel suddenly guilty. Rolling his eyes, he went and sat next to Amy on her bed. Max followed and laid his head on Amy's lap. John watched as she smiled and pet the content animal.

"Did the school call your parents about me skipping school?"

She shook her head.

"I told them you were sick and that my parents were too busy taking care of you. Like they'd do that…"

She looked at him, her brown eyes meeting his green ones.

"How have you survived in this house?" he asked her.

Amy smiled at him.

"I don't call it surviving. I stay quiet, do as I'm told, and take care of myself. Makes them leave me alone and provide me only with what I need. I'm not hassled. Don't ask me why they wanted to be foster parents. Maybe they assumed all kids were like me. But you're making them work and that's entertaining to me."

"Hmm…"

John leaned over and petted his dog.

"You're not like them, are you?"

"Took you awhile, John."

"JOHN! AMY!"

The two looked up to see Janelle standing in the doorway.

"I told the two of you I don't want the dog in this house. Who brought him in?"

Amy slowly began to raise her hand, but John put his hand on hers, keeping it on the bed.

"I did."

The girl turned and stared at him with alarm as Janelle glared at him.

"Wait, no, it was me-"

"John, I've told you not to bring the dog up here."

"He's a dog; it isn't like he's harming anything. He's just sitting there."

"Get it out of my house."

Amy stood up, slipping through John's attempt to stop her, and went over to her mother.

"Mom, I did it. I let the dog in the house. I just wanted to play with it."

Her mother stared at her.

"_You_? Amy, you know not to bring the dog in here."

"But John's right, the dog isn't-"

Janelle raised her hand to slap her daughter, but John got off the bed and shouted.

"DON'T HIT HER!"

The woman stopped and John pulled a flinching Amy away from her mother.

"We'll just put the dog outside!"

Janelle scowled.

"Don't corrupt Amy into doing things she never used to. I can see you're trying to rope her into shoplifting and vandalizing…"

"Mom!"

John snorted and grabbed Max's collar.

"You're right. I'm trying to corrupt her. Great deduction. I'm putting my dog outside now."

"John!" Amy protested, but he disappeared around the corner.

Janelle said nothing more to her daughter and left in a huff to go back downstairs. Amy ran to her bedroom window. She watched as John put Max back in his kennel, only to sneak off around the side of the house. Turning, Amy dashed down the stairs and quietly out the front door. She met John at the garage as he was getting on his bike.

"John, stop," she said, putting a hand on the handlebars.

"I'm going out."

"I know. Will you take me with you?"

John stared at her completely serious face. His lips slowly formed a smirk.

"You wanna?"

Amy nodded. John slipped slightly forward on his bike and patted the spot behind him. She went around and swung herself onto his bike. When her hands had wrapped around his waist, he put the bike into motion and they took off down the dark road.


	2. Chapter 2

Amy didn't know where John was going, but when they reached a park fifteen minutes from home, she couldn't help but sigh in awe. John had gone to the middle of the park, which made a hill. From the hill, the city could be seen. The lights were dazzling. Amy had never been out after dark like this. John stopped the bike and they both got off. Amy ran to the edge of the hill and looked out at the city.

"It's so pretty," she commented.

John came up beside her, his hands buried in his pockets.

"Yeah, I come here a lot. Helps me cool down."

She turned and saw him sit down with a heavy sigh. She followed his example and sat.

"I wish I had your guts. You don't seem to care about what others think of you and you're not afraid to misbehave."

John snorted.

"I was raised that way. My mother was nuts. All the crap she told me…"

Amy glanced over at his face. His eyes looked so hurt. She picked at the grass beneath her.

"What…exactly did she tell you?"

Lying back, John looked up at the night sky.

"That in the future, Skynet is practically going to blow up the world as we know it and robots are going to take over. Those of us people who survive are going to start a rebellion and I'm the leader. Not only that, but my dad is from the future and was sent back by me to protect my mom so that I could be born in the first place. I was raised as a rebel leader. You know, weapon skills, computer technology skills, espionage. Great stuff to know, right?"

He looked over to see Amy staring at him. His shoulders fell a little in despair. No girls looked at him the same way after he told them that. Tim was his friend because the two of them loved to get into trouble and use his skills for their own means. John was shocked when Amy's face broke into a grin.

"You're _really_ cool."

He blinked at her before laughing.

"You're just such a good girl that bad guys intrigue you. I do believe there is a psychological explanation for that…"

Amy shrugged.

"Everything is more interesting that the life I've lived, so I grab onto anything people give me. I have no talents whatsoever. If there is a robot apocalypse in the future, I'll be a goner in no time."

John chuckled at her.

"I promise I won't let that happen."

The two of them laughed before Amy lay back on the ground beside John and they both stared up at the lights that were billions and billions of miles away from them.

"What if your mom is right and those mental institutes are wrong?"

"Psh, yeah, right. My mother's crazy, Amy. She got caught trying to blow up a computer factory and got shot. That's why she's in a mental institute. They arrested her, interrogated her, and dubbed her insane."

She turned her head and looked at him seriously.

"But what if-?"

"She's not sane."

John said it so sternly, Amy stopped. It wasn't just the tone of finality to his protest, but also the sadness. She could tell he'd been fighting with the feeling for a very long time. Was his mom right? Was she wrong? In reality, most people would find her to be wrong.

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

"Don't be. I appreciate your consideration of her mental state being better than the rest of the world. Really, I do."

Amy rolled onto her side and propped herself up with her left elbow.

"Even though you just started talking to me today…would you think of us as friends? I'd really like that."

John looked over at her and smiled.

"Sorry about that…my ignoring you…"

Amy shrugged before he continued.

"I have a feeling you and I are going to be better friends than I am with Tim. He's my friend and everything, but I can't really talk to him about emotional stuff like I can with a girl."

John was pleased to hear her giggle at his comment, despite its stereotypical ring. They sat out in the park for a good thirty minutes before heading back to the Voight household. The fact that they had run off was ignored, but they were directed immediately to bed upon arriving home.

Two months later, Amy and John were much better friends. They hung out a lot and Tim was super pleased about a female addition to John's, and ultimately his, friend list. John would bring her along on their not so good expeditions, but he never let her take the fall for any of it if they were caught. To John, Amy had lied when she said she had no talent. She could run. Fast. Her small stature also made her good at hiding and she found incredible hiding spaces for not only her, but for them as well. On one particularly life changing day, John and Tim met Amy at the arcade in the mall after John had pin-cracked a credit card, making an ATM into giving him money that wasn't his. Amy looked at the money disapprovingly.

"John, I don't really like it when you do that…"

He smirked at her and threw an arm around her shoulders and ushered her to one of the many arcade games.

"I know, but why not use the skill I have, right?"

Amy pouted and sat down in the seat before the machine. John put the coins for the game in her hand.

"There is your share. Enjoy yourself, you know?"

She looked up at him, unsure.

"Are we going to get in trouble?"

John noticed the fear in her eyes that she was trying to hide and smiled. He patted her head reassuringly.

"No way. And if we do, you had nothing to do with it. I gave you money and you had no idea where it came from. End of story."

Amy sighed, but she accepted what he said and turned to the arcade machine as John wandered off to play games himself. They'd been there for close to two hours when Amy turned to see Tim talking to a cop. She glanced at John who was playing a game not too far away. Tim apparently lied to the cop before moving toward John. He grabbed Amy's arm on the way and dragged her with him.

"John."

"Not now, not now," he responded, totally into the game he was playing.

"Hey, man, there's a cop scoping for you. Check it out."

John stopped, saw that even Amy looked serious, and looked around her and Tim. He spotted the cop talking to a kid. The kid pointed in toward where he was. John instantly slipped out of the seat and ran for the back of the store. Amy followed, despite John's protests for her to stay in the arcade. The two ran down the hallways for the employee's of the mall only; trying to escape the cop who was hot on their trail. The two went through some double doors to find a guy striding toward them with a golden box in his hand. They stopped as he opened the box. A dozen roses fell to the floor and he pulled a shotgun out of the box.

"Oh my God!" Amy screamed.

John pushed her back through the double doors. The two tried to find a door in the hallway that would open, but they were all locked. A man in the hall told them they weren't supposed to be there, but stopped upon seeing the man's gun. That was about when the cop came around the corner. The man in black aimed his gun down the hallway.

"Get down," he said.

John grabbed Amy and pulled her down to the ground just as the gunshots rang out in the hallway. John tried to get up again, but the man pulled him around and shielded him as the cop shot at him. Amy screamed from her spot on the ground, afraid to move and confused that neither of the men were dead from the gunshots. The man who was randomly in the hallway was killed easily by the cop. The young girl scurried toward the man in black who was holding John in an attempt to escape the dead body that had fallen beside her. She and John were screaming as the cop reloaded his gun. The man grabbed Amy by the back of her shirt, opening the door to his left and pushing the two kids into the room. Amy fell in a corner of what was a supply closet and began hyperventilating as John watched the two men fight. They even ended up breaking the walls of the hallway. As they disappeared through one wall, John turned back into the closet and pulled Amy to her feet.

"There is some crazy shit going on right now. Let's get out of here."

He dragged her along down the stairs, trying to get them to the parking deck where his bike was. Upon getting on, John had issues getting his bike started. It revved up just as the cop reached the parking deck. He took off after them as they drove out of the deck.

"JOHN!" Amy screamed as he drove the bike over some bushes and landed out on the road.

Her arms were wrapped tightly around his waist from fear of the cop, the previous shooting, and John's insane driving. Somehow, the cop had gotten into a truck and was plowing through traffic to get to them. Literally. Cars were being knocked around and ignored on the road. John drove them into an old canal and stopped to look back. Amy all but passed out on his back.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I don't know, but it's not over," he replied as the truck slammed through one of the bridges above and fell into the area where they were waiting.

The truck was barely scathed and kept driving toward them. John turned the motorcycle on again and drove on to try and escape. John did pretty well, driving around debris and keeping ahead of the truck. At one point, they thought the truck would stop as it went through an underpass far too small for it. It ripped off the top of the truck, but they were saddened to see that the cop chasing them was perfectly fine. Amy glanced back and saw a very serious look on the cop's face. He wanted to kill them no matter what cost. She shuddered and held on to John tighter. It was about then that the truck started catching up to them. It slammed into the back of the bike, jerking them forward painfully. The two shouted in fear and pain as the truck kept ramming into the back of the bike. Amy had to press herself as close to John as possible to avoid getting slammed by the truck herself. Out of nowhere, the man in black came around the side of the truck on a black motorcycle. He pulled Amy off the bike first and placed her in front of him. He then grabbed John as put him just behind her. John's bike was lost to the wrath of the truck. The kids turned back to see the man who had saved them pull out his shotgun and shoot at the truck. He blew out the trucks left front wheel and it went careening into the middle of a split under a bridge. Somehow, the truck exploded in flames. The man stopped the motorcycle and they all looked back at the fiery wreckage. The man pulled out his gun again, but only a tire wheel came rolling out after them. The man then started the motorcycle back up and they were on their way. Neither of the kids knew where they were heading.


	3. Chapter 3

They wound up stopping in a neighborhood alley about two miles from the explosion. Amy's first reaction was to completely freak out, which was what she did. She leaped off the bike, screaming obscenities, and tried to run off. John grabbed her, slightly amused, and told her to calm down.

"Amy. Amy! He saved us. Relax, will you?"

He looked back at the man…thing…that was staring at them from the motorcycle. Amy quieted down enough that John was able to take her hand and lead her around so they could examine their rescuer. John reached out his unoccupied hand to touch the multiple bullet holes in the back of the leather jacket the man was wearing. There was even a little blood, but not much. He was still completely functional as well.

"Holy shit…You're really real. I mean…huh…you're a machine underneath, right? But sort of alive outside?"

Amy stared at John with wide eyes.

"What are you talking about? Real?"

Amy just gaped as John let go of her hand and he moved around of the front to look at the robot that had saved their lives.

"I'm a cybernetic organism. Living tissue over metal exoskeleton."

John poked his face and then a bullet hole on his chest. Amy and John stared at the blood on John's fingers after he did that.

"This is intense," John said, astounded.

Amy looked at him.

"Intense? This is _nuts_! What is-? How is-?"

She swayed on the spot, making John grab her shoulders.

"Hey, c'mon. Snap out of it!"

She shook her head as he shook her lightly. She seemed alert enough, so he turned back to the robot and stared.

"Get a grip, John…" he muttered to himself," Okay, you're not here to kill me. I figured that part out myself. So what's the deal?"

The machine moved the gun as he looked at John. Amy was severely unnerved by the sunglasses he wore. It made him seem unnecessarily mysterious.

"My mission is to protect you."

"Yeah? Who sent you?" John asked, suddenly suspicious.

"You did. Thirty-five years from now you reprogrammed me to be your protector here in this time."

John sighed.

"This is deep…"

Amy looked at him skeptically.

"Deep? Deep? This is ridiculous. Future you sent him….he was reprogrammed…_you_ sent him?"

It was then that Amy finally couldn't handle it anymore and passed out. The machine caught her and put her on the bike behind him.

"We have to go."

John got on the bike without question, sitting behind Amy so that he could hold her up between himself and the Terminator. During the drive it got dark and John was able to learn that the terminator after him was a newer model made of liquid steel. The terminator wanted to leave the city immediately, but John insisted that they had to inform his foster parents even if he wasn't their biggest fan. Not to mention he wasn't willing to uproot Amy from her life just because he had to run for his life. The terminator pointed out that she was in as much danger if she went home, but John still felt he needed to tell the Voights' what was going on. Amy was just waking up when they reached a gas station with a phone booth. John helped her off the bike as she could stumble around a little with help and decided he should probably talk to her parents instead of her. He searched for a quarter as the terminator held on to Amy. She seemed to be letting things sink in as she didn't run screaming from the robot.

"Look, Todd and Janelle are dicks, but I gotta warn 'em. You gotta quarter?"

The robot smashed the coin box and quarters spilled out. Amy giggled a little bit, still a bit out of it, causing John to snigger at her. He used one of the tons of quarters to call the house. Janelle answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Janelle, it's me!"

"John?"

"Is everything alright? Are you guys okay? Amy's here with me."

"Yeah, honey, everything's okay. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine."

"John, it's late. Honey, I was beginning to worry about you and Amy. If you hurry home we can sit down and have dinner together. I'm making beef stew."

John looked over at the terminator and Amy. He had a frown on his face. He covered the speaker part of the phone and whispered to them.

"Something's wrong. She's never this nice."

"John, where are you?" Janelle's voice called through the receiver.

They could hear Todd yelling at the dog in the background for barking. This bothered John even more. As Amy was waking up, she was confused as well. Max never barked unless it was something he didn't like.

"The dogs really barking…" John murmured.

"John, honey, it's late. Please don't make me worry."

John looked up at the robot.

"Could he already be there?"

The terminator took the phone and listened.

"Honey, are you okay?"

"I'm right here," the terminator said in John's voice," I'm fine."

Both kids gaped at him in astonishment. He put a hand on the speaker and looked at them.

"What's the dog's name?"

"Max…" John answered, slowly.

The terminator went back to the phone.

"Hey, Janelle, what's wrong with Wolfie? I can hear him barking. Is he okay?"

"Wolfie is fine, honey. He's just fine. Where are you?"

The terminator hung up the phone. He looked at John and Amy.

"Your parents' are dead."

Amy stared him before looking at John. He looked back at her, his face shocked. He grabbed Amy as she wrapped her arms around herself and let out a wounded sound, like an injured animal.

"Oh my…I have no home…I have no parents…I mean, they were horrible but…I have nowhere to go…I-I-"

"Amy, listen to me. It's okay. You still have me. Amy, stick with me, now. Amy."

They heard the sound of the terminator's gun click. John looked up to see the shotgun trained on Amy's trembling form. He stood up and stepped in front of her.

"No, stop! What are you doing?"

"She'll slow us down."

"You just don't kill her! You don't kill people. That isn't okay."

John felt Amy's use his shirt to get up. Looking back, she looked completely serious. Her eyes were empty.

"No, John. You have to get out of here and I'm just a liability. Let him kill me. I have nothing to live for."

"Don't say that!"

John pushed the shotgun in the terminator's hand down and turned to face Amy.

"You're my best friend. That's worth living for right? You mean something to me. I'll be your family now, okay? We'll go _together_. You understand? I'm not leaving you behind. I won't allow it. You won't die. Okay? Trust me. Do you?"

Amy looked up at him sadly and nodded slowly. John pulled her into a hug, which surprised Amy. He'd never hugged her. This small action made tears come to her eyes. Her parents had never hugged her. Not once. No one had. No one had really cared enough to. She stretched her arms around John's green jacket and hugged him back as she sniffled. She didn't know how a thirteen year old boy knew how to comfort a girl, but he did. His hand stroked her hair, calming her with affection she'd never received elsewhere. The terminator just watched, his shotgun now stored away. John pulled away from Amy as she rubbed her eyes.

"Okay, now?"

She nodded and John gave her a smile. The three of them went over to the empty parking lot by the phone booth and John sat with Amy on the abandoned car. The terminator stood across from them. John stared at him for a minute; still letting it sink in that the life his mother had told him about, where he becomes a rebel leader, still could exist in the future.

"See, we spent a lot of time in Nicaragua and places like that. For a while there, she was with this crazy ex-Green Beret guy, running guns. Then there were some other guys. She'd shack up with anybody she could learn from so she could teach me how to be this "_great military leader"._ Then she gets busted and it's like, "Sorry kid, your mom's a psycho. Didn't you know?" It's like everything I'd been brought up to believe was all made of bullshit. I _hated_ her for that. But everything she said was true. She knew and nobody believed her. Not even me. Listen, we've got to get her out of there."

Amy put a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. She wasn't the only one who had lost something. But maybe…John could get his back. The terminator didn't agree.

"Negative. The T-1000's highest probability for success now would be to copy Sarah Connor and to wait for you to make contact with her."

John jumped off the car and onto his feet.

"Great. And what happens to her?" John asked, pleasantly.

" Typically, the subject being copied is terminated."

"Shit! Why didn't you tell me? We gotta go right now!"

"Negative. It's not a mission priority."

"Fuck you; she's a priority to me!"

Amy jumped off the car in alarm. The terminator had an iron grip on John's jacket. The boy started screaming for someone to help and get the robot off him. Amy tried to quiet him as there were a couple people around.

"Let me go!" John shouted.

The grip on his jacket instantly loosened and John fell to the ground in surprise. Amy sighed and looked up at the terminator.

"Why the hell did you do that?" John shouted angrily as Amy helped him up.

"Because you told me to."

Amy understood instantly where this was going and she couldn't help but groan internally. Knowing John, this might work toward his amusement. As she had predicted, John's face broke into a smile.

"You have to do what I say, huh?"

"It's one of my mission parameters."

"Prove it. Stand on one foot."

The terminator lifted his right leg up into the air. Amy rubbed her temples.

"Oh, here we go…"

"Yes!" John shouted, triumphantly," Cool. My own terminator. Wow."

"He's not a pet, John," Amy commented.

Just then two guys showed up by them. One had long blonde hair and was wearing a yellow tank top. The other was a black guy in a maroon shirt and a hoodie.

"You okay, kids?" he asked, looking between the three of them.

"Take a hike, bozos," John answered, making Amy shake her head in alarm.

The black guy hit his friend's shoulder.

"See, come on, let's go, man."

"Fuck you, you little dipshit," the blonde shouted at John.

The boy grinned amusedly.

"Dipshit?"

He went over to the terminator and whispered for him to put his leg down. He did so instantly.

"Did you call _muah_ a dipshit?"

Amy leaned her head against the car hood. She did not want to watch the rest of this.

"Just trying to help you, punk," the guy muttered.

"Grab this guy," John told the terminator," I can't believe he called me a dipshit."

The guy shouted as the robot grabbed him by his hair and lifted him into the air. The man screamed as his friend tried to come to his aid. He tried to pry the terminator's hand loose.

"Now who's the dipshit, you jock douche bag?" John asked, smugly.

"John…" Amy protested, but was ignored.

The man's friend grabbed the robot around the neck, causing him to let go of the blonde. The terminator pried the man's arm off, breaking a few bones in the process, something that was assumed as the man screamed bloody murder. Amy moved around to John as the terminator pushed the man onto the car hood and pulled out a gun.

"NO!" John shouted, pushing the terminator's arm just in time to save the man's life," Put the gun down NOW!"

The terminator put the gun down as Amy told the guys to get out of there. John was no upset with his pet robot. He picked up the gun from the ground. He looked around making sure no one else was around and coming.

"Jesus, you were gonna kill that guy!"

"Of course. I'm a terminator."

Amy snorted, a slight smile on her face, but John's glare turned her face very somber.

"Listen to me very carefully," John told him, sternly," You're not a terminator anymore, alright? You got that? You just can't go around killing people."

Amy had never seen John be so moralistic and serious in the entire time she'd known him. It actually made her feel a little more respect for her friend.

"Why?" the terminator asked.

John didn't know how to answer that question specifically.

"What do you mean why? You can't."

"Why?"

"Because you just can't, okay? Trust me on this."

John sighed, finally understanding that the terminator wasn't going to comprehend why he couldn't go around killing people.

"Look, I'm gonna go get my mom and I order you to help me."

He handed the terminator his gun again. He took it and stored it away. John grabbed Amy's wrist and pulled her toward the motorcycle. The terminator followed. Amy felt John's hand shaking as he held her wrist. He was more shaken up about the guys almost dying than she'd thought. She grabbed his shoulder with her loose hand, making him stop.

"John, it's okay. You saved him."

He turned to her and sighed.

"Yeah, but what if we're too late for my mom?"

She smiled and pushed his right sided bangs out of his eyes a little.

"We won't be."

John's green eyes examined her face.

"I _am _sorry about your parents. Really."

Amy glanced at the ground.

"Yeah, well. Let's just hope not many more people are going to die, hm? Besides…they weren't…"

Her sentence trailed off. John glanced at the terminator and saw him watching them intently. It embarrassed him slightly, but he turned back to Amy.

"You deserve better than them anyway."

Amy smiled at him.

"Guess we've traded spots, huh? You're going to get your mom back and I'll go into a foster home."

He shook his head and let his hand slip into hers. He gave it a squeeze.

"Nah, you're with me now. Got it? No foster homes for you."

They continued to the bike and got on after the terminator, Amy still in-between the robot and John. They then drove off to Pescadero's mental hospital.


	4. Chapter 4

They stopped outside the hospital on John's request. The terminator was as close to confused as he could potentially get.

"Why did we stop now?"

"Now you have to promise me you're not gonna kill anyone, right?"

"Right."

"Swear?"

"What?"

Amy smiled at the two of them. It was a bit ridiculous, but extremely adorable to witness this conversation.

"Just put up your hand and say "I swear I won't kill anyone"."

The terminator agreed and they drove to the entrance to get into the hospital. The security guy there looked at them strangely.

"Visiting hours is ten to four, Monday through Friday," he said as the terminator got off his bike.

He pulled out his gun, making the security guard do the same. Amy screamed as the gun went off twice. The terminator had shot the security's guards legs. Both of them. She and John jumped off the motorcycle.

"What the hell are you doing?" John shouted.

Amy cringed at the screaming man on the ground. The terminator punched through the glass in the booth and pressed the button to open the gates. The two got back on the bike as the terminator picked up two tasers and gave them to the kids.

"He'll live," he announced before driving into the parking area.

Amy glanced back at John.

"He found a loophole. These robots are interesting…"

John rolled his eyes in irritation, but the terminator had kept his word. Getting into the hospital was easier than they thought it would be since alarms were going off so that there was no one around. It was obvious to them that someone was trying to make an escape attempt as the man outside had no way of letting other know he'd been shot in the legs. They had used the stairs, the terminator in the lead, to get up to the floor that John's mom was on. He'd checked the computers to find her room number. His hacking skills were pretty impressive to Amy. As they reached the right floor and the terminator stepped into the hall, John and Amy could hear female screams.

"NO! NO!"

The sound of running bare feet on the linoleum floor made John run around the terminator.

"Mom! Wait!" he shouted," Mom!"

He almost beat the terminator around the corner his mom had taken, but he was grabbed and held back. Amy stopped right behind John. Looking around the corner, a hospital worker had tackled John's mom and she was wrestling him to get away from the terminator. More hospital workers came in, trying to hold her down. No one seemed to notice the three of them moving toward them.

"Help her!" John commanded.

"Wait here," was the reply.

Amy held on to John's arms to keep him from going farther, knowing he would want to so that he could help his mother. It was strange how no one noticed the terminator until he grabbed one of the men holding Sarah Connor down and threw him into the glass window that shatter. It was made more painful by the fact that the windows were all barred. The terminator easily tossed away all of those trying to hold on to her. A security guard elbowed him, but it did nothing but break his sunglasses. Something that Amy was personally thankful for. Amy let John go when there was no one holding her down and the man in charge was standing off to the side, saying nothing. John instantly ran to her side and his friend followed quickly. He knelt down beside his mother.

"Mom, mom, are you okay?"

She was so focused on the terminator that she didn't hear her son speaking to her.

"MOM!" John shouted.

She turned and stared at him with wide eyes. She looked between him, Amy, and the terminator. She was confused, but the terminator held out his hand to her.

"Come with me if you want to live."

"It's okay, mom, he's here to help. It's okay."

John and Amy helped her to her feet and her hand took the terminator's. They suddenly heard footsteps. Down the hallway was the terminator in cop clothes, watching them from the other side of a barred door. He suddenly just phased through the metal, which shocked them all. The terminator stepped in front of them and pointed his shotgun at the newer model.

"Go."

The terminator shot as the other three took off for the elevator. The terminator backed down the hallway, shooting the advancing terminator all the while. When John, Sarah, and Amy were in the elevator, they huddled to the side of the elevator to avoid the bullets the T-1000 was shooting at them. The terminator made it into the elevator just as the doors closed. They thought they were safe for a few seconds before a sharp spike of metal slid through the closed doors. Amy screamed as Sarah pulled John toward the back of the elevator. John grabbed Amy and pulled her along with him. The metal changed so that it could pry open the elevator doors. The terminator instantly shot the T-1000 in the head, making it back away with a strange screech of anger. The doors closed again and the elevator moved downward.

"What the fuck is it?" Sarah asked, beside herself," What the fuck is going on?"

Amy had her back pressed against the wall and John has his back pressed against her front. There was no time for anyone to answer Sarah's question as there was a thump from the top of the elevator and a spike of metal came down through the roof. The three ducked down closer to the floor on the terminator's request while he moved around, trying to shoot the T-1000 through the ceiling. John and Amy were on the floor while Sarah, still in shock, was breathing rapidly and staring upwards. She was barely ducking down. The light fixtures for the elevator fell from the shooting and the stabbing the ceiling was receiving. Sarah looked around. She spotted the terminator's normal gun and grabbed it before shooting toward the T-1000. After a few shots, the stabbing metal sliced Sarah's back and she crouched to the ground in pain. John shouted in alarm. She seemed relatively okay, so John handed her another gun cartridge and she continued shooting from lower. When the elevator door opened, they dashed out instantly. A cop car was driving through the deserted parking lot. It was quickly stopped by Sarah, who pointed her gun at the driver.

"Out of the car," she shouted.

Amy noticed the crazed sound to her voice. It was very unsettling. It might be true, what they say about going to a mental hospital. If you weren't crazy before, you will be when you get out. Amy and John jumped as his mom shot through the car windshield to hurry the security guard out of his car.

"Right now!"

The scared man got out with his hands by his head. The terminator came up, tossed the guy into a pillar, and got into the car. The kids felt bad as the guy fell unconscious, but it was better for him that way. He'd die of the T-1000 found him awake. Sarah ran to the passenger seat while the two kids jumped into the back. They got in just as the T-1000 came out of the elevator to get them.

"GO!" John and Amy shouted and the terminator backed the car speedily away from the advancing robot.

Sarah leaned out the passenger seat, continuing to shoot at the machine. When she was out of bullets, she came back in and John handed her another cartridge. The terminator shot with his shotgun while she was reloading. This continued as the terminator's ran out. Amy felt useless, but she was awed as John easily reloaded the shotgun for the T-800. He'd obviously been trained a lot more for being a rebel leader than she'd originally guessed. As they got out of the parking lot, the terminator drove them straight over a hedge where the rear slammed into the pavement. Amy and John slammed their heads together, the two of them hissing in pain as the terminator drove off with the T-1000 still in pursuit. He turned the car forward just before they reached the gate. The T-1000 was able to hold onto the car and climbed up onto the back of the car. Amy pulled John and herself down to the floor of the backseat just as the robot shoved its metal arms through the glass. Shards covered the two kids, but mostly Amy as she was on top of him for cover.

"John!" his mom shouted, but she couldn't reach him.

The terminator leaned the shotgun back and shot the robot back.

"Here. Drive," he told Sarah.

She instantly took the wheel as he leaned out the driver's side window and shot at the enemy. When the terminator had shot the opposing robot clear off the car, Amy got up and pulled John back up with her. It couldn't run fast enough to catch up. John noticed a broken part of the robot's metal still hanging onto the car. He pried it off and tossed it onto the road as they sped away. Hopefully, it would never catch up to them again.


	5. Chapter 5

When they were sure he wasn't following, John leaned toward the front seats.

"Can you even see anything?" he asked the terminator.

"I see everything."

"Cool," John said, leaning back against the seats with Amy.

The two were very careful not to sit on our accidentally touch any of the broken glass. Sarah still seemed in a bit of shock but she extended her arms to her son for what seemed like a hug, but searched him for any wounds instead. This upset John a bit.

"I said I was okay!"

"John, it was stupid of you to go there. God dammit, you have to be smarter than that. You almost got yourself killed. Along with…_her_ over there."

Amy bit her bottom lip, feeling bit uncomfortable.

"I'm Amy…by the way…"

The woman stared at her for a moment before looking back at her son.

"What were you thinking? You cannot risk yourself, not even for me. Not even for…Amy. Why is she even here? You're too important. Do you understand?"

She sighed and sat back in the passenger seat. John was verge of tears.

"But…I had to get you out of that place. I'm sorry."

She looked back at him.

"I didn't need your help. I can take care of myself."

The terminator, who had been watching John through the rearview mirror, turned to look at him. A tear went down John's cheek.

"What's wrong with your eyes?"

"Nothing."

John turned and looked back out the window as the attention moved away from him. He tried to hide his tears from Amy, but she put a hand on his arm. He looked down at her hand and then up at her face. He brushed away and tear, giving her a quick, but sad smile. The group stopped at an abandoned car garage/gas station. The terminator got the car into the garage by breaking the lock while John followed him to watch everything he did. Amy carefully scooted out of the car once it was inside. The terminator went to work on stitching Sarah's cut on her back. After that, Sarah set up a space to pull the bullets out of the terminator's back while Amy dusted out the broken glass from the car and John examined the terminator's jacket. It was riddled with holes. When Amy was done, she went over to John who was by his mom and the robot.

"Does it hurt when you get shot?" he asked.

"I sense injuries. The data could be called pain," was his reply.

Amy looked over at John.

"I have a feeling it's different, somehow."

John put the terminator's jacket down and watched as his mom pulled out bullets. Amy sat on a stool nearby. She felt like she shouldn't be there. Mostly because it was a coincidence and a complete accident that she was there. Sarah's attitude toward her only backed up the thought. Sarah looked at her as if she were going to be the cause of her son's death. The terminator and his mother were there to keep him alive and well, but Amy was there for no reason. She was glad that John hadn't noticed her issue about it, but she kept thinking about what she could do to be of more use. She was currently drawing a blank. She could run way, but to run where? She had no food, no water, and frankly it was dangerous. Not to mention she didn't know where she was and where she would even go. It meant a lot to her that John wanted to keep her with them, but she would only slow them down. Maybe if the T-1000 found her, she could slow him down and keep him from finding his true target. Even if that meant her death.

"Can you learn stuff that you haven't been programmed with?" she heard John ask the terminator," So you can be, you know…more human? And not such a dork all the time."

She shook her head to clear it so she could listen to what was going on. She leaned back on her stool and grinned at John.

"Careful, John, you're calling a terminator a dork."

He turned around and winked at her with a smirk on his face. The terminator hesitated before answering.

"My CPU is a Neural Net processor. A learning computer. But Skynet presets the switch to read only when we are sent out alone."

"Doesn't want you to do too much thinking, huh?" Sarah asked.

"No."

There were all silent for a moment before Amy crossed over to the others.

"Can we reset the switch?" she asked.

They all looked at her. John was the only one who didn't make her feel like a fool as he grinned at her idea. Sarah and John found a few tools they could use to get to the CPU. John then held the light while Sarah operated. Amy stood off to the side just watching, once again feeling useless except for coming up with the idea. When they got the CPU out, the terminator went completely off. John poked him, but seeing as he wasn't moving, went over to where his mom had gone. He shouted as she was lifting a hammer to smash the CPU. He leaped forward and covered the chip with a shout.

"NO! NO! Don't!" he screamed.

"Get out of my way, John," Sarah said, quietly.

"Don't kill him," John said, giving her a stern look.

Amy hadn't had a good relationship with her parents, so she had a vision of what a true relationship with a parent should be like. Sarah's and John's were not fitting that vision. She watched as the two bickered over it until Sarah caved and let John have what he wanted. He won by asking her how he could be a leader if his own mother wouldn't even listen to him. John eventually put the CPU back into the terminator, not trusting his mom to do it herself. Frankly, she didn't want to. Once the terminator was up again, he decided to stand guard by the window the rest of the night. John found Amy lying back in the now glass free car. She lay on her side in the backseat, drawing circles on the leather chair backs.

"Something wrong?" he asked her, slipping into the back seat with her.

Her hand stopped its motions. She couldn't see him well now that most of the lights they had been using were off, but from the tone of his voice, she could tell he wanted an answer. She pressed herself into the back of the backseat in surprise as he lay down facing her. He could just see her in the light from so close and he could tell she was avoiding his eyes. He glanced over at his mom, who was sitting on the ground not too far away, smoking. She was watching them closely while glancing at the terminator every so often. She was close enough to be listening in, which irritated him.

"When you guys head out tomorrow…" Amy started slowly," I'm going to stay here."

"Why?" John demanded with a frown.

Amy sighed.

"If the T-1000 comes after you, I'll distract him. He'll see me. Assume I know where you are and come after me."

John grabbed her face and made her look him in the eyes.

"Amy. He will kill you."

She looked at his green eyes, wanting to cry.

"I know," she whispered," But you're too important-"

"The hell I am!" he almost shouted," I'm not more important than anyone else. My mom can say that and believe it as much as she wants, and maybe she's right about me being a rebel leader, but I'm not going to abandon you, Amy. You're my best friend and I'd be a terrible person if I just left you."

Amy groaned and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"John, I'm useless. I'm good for nothing. I can't…shoot a gun, hack a computer, outsmart a machine, or anything of consequence. I'm just…here. The only thing I _can _do is at least sacrifice my life for yours."

She felt John's arms wrap around her head.

"I don't want that," she heard him say into her hair," You're not useless. You're here…to keep me sane. If there was one thing I would want to keep from before as my life changes, it would be you. Your parents didn't deserve you, Amy. You're with me now and I am going to make sure it stays like that. I won't let you go. You can run away, but I'll just have the T-800 track you down. And then you'd just be wasting time. I care about you, Amy. So, stop acting like you're not wanted."

"But your mother-"

"Can fucking suck it up. How about this? I am in charge. And as a future leader, I demand that you stay with me. Comprende?"

Amy half laughed and half sobbed into his shirt. She leaned back against the seat and lay her head on her arm.

"Yes, sir," she smiled up at him, a tear running down her cheek.

John simply brushed it away and lay his head down as well.

"Yeah, that's right, you do as I say."

The two kids joked around and talked until they fell asleep on the tiny car seat that both of them were just barely able to sleep on. Sarah sighed from her spot on the ground, not concerned enough to move John away from the girl. When she'd asked John about her, he'd told her everything about the two of them. How she had been his foster sister, how he had disliked her without even knowing her, had eventually befriended her, and how they'd become best friends. He'd told her about how Amy would help hide him from cops and cover for him when he was in trouble. He told her about how the girl was never intentionally mean to anyone or anything. He told her about how shy Amy was and how her parents had never cared about her. Sarah hadn't known what to say when John had admitted that Amy's shyness made him feel like he needed to protect her from everything and everyone. He'd made it clear that he was never going to let his own mother convince him to let the girl go off on her own. It made Sarah think of how lonely she felt, and even lost, without Kyle Reese. She couldn't bring herself to take someone so important to him out of his life. She knew how painful that was, especially if the person was taken unexpectedly. She could see that if the two remained together, the relationship would only get stronger, but Sarah was starting to realized that John was at an age where he could dictate who, or what, he wanted in his life. And she knew that John would fight to keep Amy by him and would never forgive the person who would take her away. She decided then and there, that by all accounts, Amy was now partially like a daughter to her. She had to keep her alive. Strictly for John's sake.


	6. Chapter 6

Amy woke up partially being squished between the seat and John. She'd managed not to get completely crushed during the night by having half of her body rest on John's. She wiggled out of the space a bit till she was lying just to the side of him. He was completely out as she smiled. John had to be the nicest guy she'd ever met. Despite the fact that he was a bit of a rebel, his mother must be so proud, he was a very sensitive boy to human nature, pain, and loss. He seemed a lot younger when he slept. When he wasn't talking and joking around, you could see he still had some baby cheeks left on him. Amy giggled and pushed his hair out of his eyes before sliding out of the car. She squeaked as she ran into John's mother. Her noise had roused John.

"Huh? Wha-? Amy?"

He rubbed his eyes and, when he was able to see properly, he frowned at his mother. She looked over at the terminator.

"Take him to go find a car. I'll stay here with Amy."

He gave her a suspicious look, but slid out of the car. Before he left he took Amy's arm.

"If you need to hit her to stay alive, it's okay."

He'd said it loud enough for his mom to hear. She just gave him an exasperated sigh before he joined the robot and they exited the garage. Amy shuffled her feet awkwardly, waiting for his mom to give her an order or say something at all. Apparently, Sarah wanted to talk. She leaned against the car.

"You're willing to die to protect him, hm?" she asked, though it sounded more like a fact.

"I-uh-um…yes…"

Sarah gave the girl a hard stare.

"If you'd really wanted to save him, you would have just gone. You wouldn't have told him."

Amy gaped at the woman. Sarah went to walk off, but Amy's words stopped her.

"That would hurt him. He hates it when people do things for him without asking what he thinks. Like when you tried to smash the terminator's chip yesterday. I can't hurt him like that. He's been so nice to me…and friends don't do things like that."

"But then he's able to stop you-"

"Maybe that's because he's right."

Sarah looked at the girl. She could respect her. She was quiet, but she'd defend herself. And John.

"Do me a favor."

Amy looked at the woman in confusion. Sarah sighed and looked out the window.

"Take care of John. Especially if something happens to me…will you do that?"

The younger girl nodded slowly, unsure why she'd request that without a reason. Hopefully, she didn't have one. John would not be too happy about that. A station wagon pulled up outside with John and the terminator in it. John didn't bother to move to the backseat, so Amy and Sarah just jumped in. The terminator's aim was to get as far away from the city as possible. They were heading South. They were speeding along when John finally decided that the terminator's way of speaking was much too rigid.

"No, no, no, no, no. You gotta listen to the way people talk. You don't say "affirmative". Or some shit like that. You say…"no problemo". And if someone comes off to you with an attitude, you say "Eat me". And if you wanna shine them on its "Hasta la vista, baby". "

Amy snorted from her seat.

"No one talks like that, but you."

"That's because I'm actually cool."

John looked back at Amy to see her roll her eyes. He just laughed at the small smile on her face. The terminator looked at John.

"Hasta la vista, baby," he said.

Amy flew into a quiet fit of giggles in the backseat.

"Yeah," John smiled," "Later, dickwad". And if someone gets upset you say "Chill out". Or you could do combinations."

The terminator looked over at him.

"Chill out…dickwad."

Amy was dying of laughter in the backseat. Even Sarah couldn't help but grin to herself.

"That's great! See, you're getting it!" John cheered.

"No problemo."

The car ride went on with John trying to make the terminator seem more "normal", but it just entertained Amy to no end as the terminator's voice stayed completely monotone. They eventually stopped off at a gas station. The car needed gas and a little fixing up. Sarah leaned forward.

"You got any cash?" she asked her son.

"I got a couple hundred bucks," he answered, smugly," I'll give you half."

She snatched the entire stack from him, making him protest in anger. She sifted through it and gave him about forty back.

"Get some food," she ordered before getting out of the station wagon.

John and Amy exchanged a look.

"Psh. No sense of humor," John muttered.

Getting out of the car, the three walked together to get food at a fast food place right next door to the gas station. John sighed.

"That's another thing. You can lighten up a bit yourself. This severe routine is getting old, okay? I mean, you're acting like such a geek. Smile once in awhile."

"Smile?"

"Yeah. You know…smile. Watch."

Amy grinned as John went over to the window of the fast food place and smiled at the lady behind the counter.

"Hi! Nice place you got here. How's business?"

"Gimme a break."

The woman didn't smile at all and Amy hid her face behind the terminator as she giggled. John turned and looked at the two of them.

"Okay, bad example."

Amy shook her head and looked around. Maybe she could do better. She tapped the terminator and pointed to the pay phone. A guy was talking happily on the phone.

"You see that guy there? That's a smile."

The terminator tried to smile at John and Amy, but it came off rather frightening. The two shook their heads at each other. John patted his arm.

"That's good. Maybe you could practice in front of a mirror or something."

John then went on and ordered them all food. Sarah was waiting for them back at the car. They hopped in and ate their lunch while the terminator worked on the car, which needed a little tuning up. Amy secretly watched John out of the corner of her eye as they ate in the front seat. His mom was in a world of her own in the back as she ate her sandwich and John was obviously concerned. He loved his mom, but Amy couldn't deny the woman was making herself hard to like.

"Want some of my fries?" he asked at one point, but he was only ignored.

Amy popped the rest of her sandwich into her mouth as John exited the car and went over to the popped hood of the car where the terminator was working. Not wanting to be left alone with a woman who was not mentally present at the moment, the young girl slipped out of the car and over to where John went.

"Need any help?" he asked the T-800.

"No."

They all looked around as two kids ran around and shouted. They were wielding toy guns and shooting each other with them and wrestling. John stared at them. After he hadn't spoken for a moment, Amy put a hand on his shoulder. He looked over at her, a sullen look on his face.

"We're not gonna make it, are we?"

Amy looked at him in confusion. He turned to the terminator.

"People, I mean."

The terminator looked at the two teenagers.

"It's in your nature to destroy yourselves."

John looked back at the kids with a sigh. Their mom had reprimanded them for goofing off like that.

"Yeah. Major drag, huh?"

Sarah had gotten out of the car and got the terminator's attention.

"I need to know how Skynet gets built. Who's responsible?"

"The man most directly responsible is Miles Bennett Dyson," he responded, shutting the hood.

"Who's that?" Sarah asked, as they all headed into the car.

"He's the director of special projects at Cyberdyne Systems Corporation."

Amy and John hopped into the backseat together. Sarah got the front this time around with the terminator.

"Why him?" Sarah continued, as they all buckled in.

"In a few months, he creates an evolutionary type of microprocessor…"

"Go on…then what?"

"In three years Cyberdyne will become the largest supplier of military computer systems. All stealth bombers are upgraded with Cyberdyne computers becoming fully unmanned. Afterwards, they fly with a perfect operational record. The Skynet Funding Bill is passed. The system goes online on August 4th, 1997. Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware 2:14 AM, Eastern Time, August 29th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug."

Amy sighed and leaned back in the car seat. This was all very overwhelming and extremely frightening to think about.

"Skynet fights back?" Sarah goes on.

"Yes. It launches its missiles against the targets in Russia."

"Why attack Russia?" John asked, leaning forward toward the driver's seat," Aren't they our friends now?"

"Because Skynet knows that the Russian combat attack will eliminate its enemies over here."

Sarah smacked her head into the back of the seat's head rest.

"Jesus," she breathed, her eyes closing before she moves on," How much do you know about Dyson?"

The terminator looked at her slowly.

"I have detailed files."

"I wanna know everything. What he looks like, where he lives, everything."

Amy wondered if she was the only one who was suspicious as to Sarah's motives on gathering information on Mr. Dyson, but she didn't say anything. She didn't want to be right and have Sarah turn around and kill her for catching her in her plans. They drove practically all day again. Amy didn't know where they were going, but Sarah seemed to know. And if Sarah felt comfortable going wherever they were going, it had to be safe. When they turned into a place that was surrounded by a fence with chopped snake heads on the edges, Amy couldn't help but grab John's arm in concern. He just laughed at her childishness as the terminator pulled in through the only entrance to the place. When he had stopped the car, Sarah told them to wait in the car and she got out by herself. The place was rather run down. It was pretty much two trailers and anything in the area was damaged in some way.

"Enrique?" Sarah called out, looking around," Estas aqi?"

Suddenly a man with a gun popped out from around the corner of a trailer and Sarah instantly pointed the gun on her at him. The terminator stepped out, his shotgun aimed at the man as well. John and Amy slipped out of the car as well as the man lowered his gun. The man moved around from behind the trailer and around a busted up helicopter.

"You're pretty jumpy, Connor."

Sarah held up her hand for the terminator to put down his gun.

"Y tu…Siempre como culebra."

The man laughed and went over to Sarah and they hugged. They started having a conversation in Spanish. Amy leaned in toward John.

"Did she call that man a snake?"

"Yeah…she did. But it's okay, we used to live with these guys," he responded.

The man Enrique called out to a woman named Yolanda and bunch of people filed out of a broken down bus. John took Amy's hand and led her over toward his mom and the man. When the guy saw John, he smiled.

"Ey! Big John! Como te va?"

"What's up?" John responded.

Amy shyly slipped behind John a bit more, making him look back at her with a smile.

"Que grandote es este?"

"They're cool, Enrique. They're with me. He's, uh, Uncle Bob. Uncle Bob, this is Enrique."

"Uncle Bob, huh? Okay, okay. Y la bonita muchacha?"

John looked back at Amy.

"She's, uh, she's my-"

"Novia," Sarah finished.

"MOM!" John protested, his face going bright red.

John and Amy's hands instantly dropped away from each other. Enrique laughed, loudly.

"Veo, veo."

A lady with long black hair came over to John.

"Que bonito!"

"Como estas?" John asked her as they hugged.

"Como estas? Que grande estas, mi hijito."

Amy was stunned as the woman pulled her into a hug. All she could do was smile at the woman in surprise. The lady, Yolanda, looked over at John and winked.

"Muy bonita. Perfecto, perfecto."

As Yolanda moved away from them, Amy smirked over at John.

"Aww, she called you cute."

John glared at her before getting a sneaky smirk on his face.

"Be careful, novia, or I'll kiss you."

He made to move closer to her, but Amy shrieked and pushed him away. John caught her around the shoulders and kissed the side of her head. The two calmed down enough to see the terminator look down at John in confusion.

""Uncle Bob"?"

Amy giggled as John could only shrug. Enrique was still talking to Sarah as a baby, no older than three years walked around the group of people awkwardly. The baby was adorable, with soft black hair and wearing overalls. Amy was horrified as the terminator grabbed the back of the child's overalls and lifted him up close to his face. John found this amusing.

"Put him down," Amy hissed to the terminator.

He looked at her for a moment before putting the confused child back on the ground. Amy looked up to see Sarah demanding things from Enrique before she looked at the three of them.

"You three, you're on weapons detail."

Amy gaped at the woman.

"B-but I don't know-"

"Come on, let's go," John said, pulling Amy along.

The terminator followed along behind.


	7. Chapter 7

John led them over to an empty area in Enrique's camp. She was confused as to how this was weapons detail when John instructed the terminator to pull on a long chain that was half buried under sand. When the terminator did as the boy instructed, a wooden board covered in dirt moved away revealing an underground storage area full of weapons. Amy's eyes were wide.

"Okay, now I definitely feel like I'm not in reality. People _actually_ hide things like this?"

"Uh, huh. Come on."

The terminator went down first and then the teenagers followed. Halfway down the ladder, he'd pluck them off and place them on the ground. Once they were in and pulling sheets off the wall revealing guns of all kinds, John explained.

"One thing about my mom, she always plans ahead."

The terminator examined a gun and seemed to like it well enough.

"Excellent," was his response.

They spent a decent amount of time finding suitable guns to put into a box to carry with them in whatever truck they would get from Enrique.

"See, I grew up in places like this, so I just thought that's how people lived. Riding around in helicopters, learning how to blow shit up. But then when my mom got busted, I got put into regular school. All the other kids were into Nintendo."

Amy was handed a gun by John which she quickly passed over to the T-800.

"I happen to like Nintendo," she commented," Frankly, I find helicopters frightening and blowing things up to be terrifying."

John shrugged. He then hesitated after pulling a box of ammunition off of a shelf. He looked over at the terminator.

"Are you ever afraid?"

"No."

"Not even of dying?" Amy asked, surprised.

"No."

"You don't feel any emotion about it one way or another?" John added.

He tried to take a heavy box off the shelf. The terminator had to help him by grabbing the sides with him and turning it, and John, to the desk on the other side.

"No. I have to stay functional until the mission is complete. Then it doesn't matter."

"I have to stay functional, too. I'm "too important"."

Amy smiled at the funny voice he made when he said "too important". She leaned on the desk as John looked through the box.

"At least your worth something."

John sighed and looked at his best friend.

"You and I need to talk about this low-self esteem of yours. No more shit like that coming out of your mouth, you hear me?"

Amy grinned and rolled her eyes at him.

"Yeah, sure. In one ear and out the other. That's your life motto, isn't it?"

John gave her a toothy grin.

"When did you become a smartass?"

"Learn from the best."

"Uh, huuuuuh…"

The two heard a small bump from the corner. They looked over at the terminator, who was grinning. He was holding a machine gun. Amy's eyebrows almost disappeared into her hairline while John grinned back at the machine.

"That's definitely you."

They began bringing the weapons out onto a picnic table so Sarah could pick through them before they were packed in the truck. The truck needed a little work, soothe terminator instantly got under the vehicle and began working. John and Amy lay under the truck, side by side, watching him work. John was talking to make the time go by as every once in awhile, the T-800 told him to do something or get something.

"Most of the guys my mom hung around with were geeks, but there was this one guy. He was kinda cool. He taught me engines. Mom screwed it up, of course. She'd always tell 'em about Judgment Day and me being this world leader. Heh, and that'd be all she wrote."

"Torque wrench, please," the machine requested.

"Wish I could've met my real dad."

"You will," the terminator responded.

"Yeah, I guess. When I'm like…forty-five, I think. I sent him back in time to 1984. Man, he hasn't even been born yet. Messes with your head…"

Amy leaned her head on John's chest.

"Wish I hadn't met mine."

John put his chin on her head and shrugged.

"Parents are something else…you shouldn't be one of you're going to suck at it. For mine…mom and him were only together for one night. She still loves him, I guess. I see her crying sometimes. She denies it totally, of course, like she got something stuck in her eye."

The terminator looked over at them.

"Why do you cry?"

"You mean people?" Amy asked.

"Yeah."

Amy looked up at John who looked back at the T-800.

"I don't know. We just cry, you know. When it hurts."

The terminator rolled out from under the car, so the kids did the same.

"Pain causes it?"

"Uhh, no. It's different. It's when there's nothing wrong with you, but you hurt anyways. You get it?"

"No."

The terminator started the ignition and the truck came to life.

"All right! My man!"

"No problemo."

Amy just laughed and shook her head at the two of them.

"Give me five! Just put your hand out like this," John told him," Come on."

When the terminator did it, John smacked it.

"All right! Now hit me. Give me five. Do the same thing."

The terminator smacked his hand.

"All right!" John said, holding his hand and silently cursing at how hard the terminator had smacked it.

Amy openly laughed at him for that. John went on with the high fives, just acting like any normal kid. The girl looked around and spotted Sarah watching them from the picnic table. She'd obviously finished looking through the weapons. Amy looked back at John, figured he wouldn't notice if she left, and moved over to where Sarah was. She sat down across from the woman awkwardly as Sarah was carving letters into the table with a knife.

"He's good with him," she commented.

Amy glanced back at the machine and John.

"What do you mean?"

"The machine…he's good with John," Sarah sighed.

Amy looked down at the table.

"Yeah…well…that's probably because he's under orders to do whatever John says."

The two watched Yolanda and Enrique playing with their baby boy and the other kids running around with the dogs. It was nice and even peaceful. If the rest of the world went away, everything would seem so good.

"Sometimes I wish I didn't know about Judgment Day…"

Amy looked at the older woman.

"I could have raised John normally…of course…his father wouldn't have been there. Did John mention-"

"Yeah…he did…"

"So, you understand."

The woman fell silent again, but Amy reached out and put a hand on the woman's arm. Sarah looked at her in surprise.

"If you hadn't raised John the way you have…he might not have been alive this long. I can't say how things would have been…but since they are how they are…he's a good person. Really."

Sarah watched the girl for a moment before smiling.

"Good enough a person for you to marry?"

Amy blushed and pulled her hand back.

"I'm not thinking about marriage any time soon! But…if I'm secluded from the rest of the world for years to come…John might be the only choice out there. Maybe even if I wasn't secluded, but…I get to choose when the time comes…And if kids are involved, I'm raising them right. I'll raise them with love. I'll raise them the way my parent's never raised me."

Sarah watched as the girl's hand tightened into a fist. They both jumped as John bounded up to them.

"Amy, you disappeared. Come on, the terminator's gonna keep loading up the weapons and he said we can just do what we want for awhile."

John grabbed Amy's arm and pulled her off of her seat. Sarah watched as the two kids ran off. She wanted the two of them to be as carefree as possible for as long as they could. Yet how long that was, she wouldn't be able to tell unless she did something about. And she definitely planned to do _something_.


	8. Chapter 8

John led Amy to a solitary picnic bench as the sun began to set, turning the desert a burning red. Amy stared as she sat down on the table, amazed by the beauty before her. John sat next to her, his elbows resting on his knees. They were quiet as the sun took its time to set. After awhile, John looked over at Amy.

"You know…you're pretty much stuck with us forever now."

Amy smiled over at him.

"Is that supposed to scare me?"

John laughed.

"Nah. I mean…you're just taking your parent's death really well. You're thirteen and you just seem so…chill about it. It amazes me. I wish I could be more like you sometimes. Not care…"

The young girl frowned at him.

"You think I don't care that my own parents are dead?"

John looked at her in surprise. The tone of her voice made it seem like she was insulted.

"That's not what I-"

"I DO care. I just don't go around moping about it. Sure they sucked, but they were still my parents! How do I have time to be upset? We're running away from a machine from the future that is trying to kill you and you think I'm just going to-"

She was cut off abruptly by John roughly pulling her into his arms.

"John?" she asked, surprised.

"You could cry, you know. Or yell. Or whatever. I wouldn't blame you because you have every right. Just remember that I'm always going to be here for you from now on, okay?"

Amy couldn't hold back the tears she'd been hiding. Burying her head deeper into his jacket so on one could see her face, she cried quietly into him. He just sat there holding her, glancing around every now and then to make sure that no one came around and noticed them. The last thing his mother would appreciate was Amy being weak. After she had a good cry for about five minutes, she looked up at him with red eyes and tears stains. He pulled a tissue out of his pocket and let her fix herself as best she could. He watched as she blew her nose and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. Impulsively, John leaned over and kissed Amy right on the lips. The girl sputtered in shock.

"Wh-what are you-?"

"Sorry. Had the sudden thought that I didn't want to die someday without having kissed a girl. Like…what if I never get a girlfriend in the next few years and then Judgement Day comes? That would suck, so…I mean you looked really cute just now. I don't have a crush on you or anything, but I just felt like-"

Amy smiled and quieted him with a quick return kiss.

"You're a very confusing boy, John, but I wouldn't want to die without having kissed a boy either. Especially without kissing a boy as caring and sweet as you are."

John cleared his throat with a blush and straightened out his jacket.

"Yeah, well. Don't tell people that. I have a reputation to uphold, you know?"

He grinned, making her laugh.

"Right, I won't tell a soul."

The Terminator came around the corner, catching their attention. He motioned back to the van.

"We need to finish packing up to get going."

John made a "Here we go again" face at Amy before the two of them went off to help. They'd just finished loading up the van when Sarah came out of a trailer suited for shooting. They all watched as she got into the car. Enrique came around and told them that Sarah had said to keep heading South like they had planned. John ran after the car shouting after her, but she drove off without a glance back. Amy ran over behind John as he kicked the dirt at his feet. The Terminator came up and put a hand on John's shoulder.

"Why does she always do things without me?" he asked with a sigh.

He moved over to the picnic table where Sarah had talked to Amy earlier. He noticed a dagger stuck in the top as the Terminator and Amy sat down. Pulling it out, he looked at the table. His mother had carved the words "No Fate" into the wood.

"No fate but what we make. My father told her this. I mean, I made him memorize it in the future as a message to her. Never mind. Now, okay, the whole thing goes "The future's not set. There's no fate but what we make for ourselves".

"She intends to change to future," the Terminator answered.

The three looked around at each other.

"Oh, yeah, I guess," John thought for a moment," Oh, shit!"

"Dyson."

"Yeah. Gotta be. Miles Dyson! She's gonna blow him away! Come on! Let's go!"

John ran to the car and continued to egg the Terminator on to drive after Sarah. Amy followed after John before the Terminator even moved. It really was convenient that the machine had to follow every order John gave it. One the way, John bit his nails nervously, hoping that he wasn't too late to stop his mother from being a murderer.

"This is tactically dangerous," the Terminator commented.

"When has that stopped us before?" Amy murmured from the backseat.

"Drive faster," was John's response.

"The T-1000 has the same files that I do. It knows what I know. It might anticipate this move."

"I don't care. We gotta stop her."

"Killing Dyson might actually prevent the war."

John got made at this point.

"I don't care! Haven't you learned anything yet? Haven't you figured out why you can't kill people? Look, maybe you don't care if you live or die, but everybody's not like that. We have feelings. We hurt. We're afraid. You got to learn this stuff. I'm not kidding. It's important."

Amy furrowed her eyebrows.

"Damn, John, you really are meant to be a leader."

The Terminator didn't argue anymore. They just headed straight for Dyson's house.


	9. Chapter 9

They pulled up outside a large white house with a lot of open class windows. John was out of the car before the Terminator had fully parked and Amy followed right after him. Looking inside, they saw the three Dyson's on the floor. Miles was bleeding. Sarah was on the floor off to the side John tried to open the door but it was locked, so the terminator just pushed right through the lock and into the room. The kids followed after. Once inside, John ran over to his mom who was shaking from her spot on the ground.

"Check them," John told the Terminator, pointing to the family.

Amy looked between the two groups, not sure what to do. Taking a deep sigh, she went over to the Dyson family. She put a hand on the Tarissa's shoulder. The Terminator had informed them before hand of the names of the Dyson family.

"I'm so sorry, everything will be okay," she said, softly," the big guy here is going to patch up your husband."

Glancing behind her back, Amy smiled to see John and Sarah hugging. Turning back, the Terminator lifted up Miles Dyson to check his wound. The family was still scared, but they let him examine him.

"Deep penetration. No shattered bone. Hold here," he said, grabbing the Tarissa's hand and having her press on the shoulder wound," The pressure should stop the bleeding."

The Terminator stood up and Amy followed suit as John came over.

"Who are you people?" Miles asked.

John pulled out a switchblade and handed it to the Termiantor.

"Show him," was all he said before moving around to the kid.

John motioned for Amy to come with him. She moved around as John knelt down.

"Danny, I want you to come with me and Amy right now, okay? Show us your room."

The two of them led Danny away. Once in his room, the kid started asking questions.

"What was going on? Why did that lady try to shoot daddy? Who are you?"

Amy went over to the boy and smiled.

"It was all an accident. Don't worry. Your daddy is perfectly safe now. My name is Amy and that is John. We're friends, really. It's really late, so you should probably go to bed. I promise everything will be okay."

Danny was easily assuaged and was put into bed in no time. When the kid was fully asleep, John and Amy made their way to the kitchen, where everyone was sitting around. The Terminator was telling Dyson everything at the dinner table while Sarah was sitting on the kitchen counter smoking a cigarette. Tarissa got the two of them some orange juice to drink while they listened. After he was done, there was silence. After a moment, Dyson spoke.

"I feel like I'm gonna throw up. You're judging me on things I haven't even done yet. How were we supposed to know?" he asked.

"Yeah. Right," Sarah said, still angry about the future," How were you supposed to know? Fucking men like you built the hydrogen bomb. Men like you thought it up. You think you're so creative. You don't know what it's really like to create something, to create a life, to feel it growing inside you. All you know how to create is death and destruction!"

John sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Mom! MOM! We need to be a little more constructive here. Okay? We still have to stop this from happening, don't we?"

Tarissa looked up in surprise.

"But I thought-Aren't we changing things right now, changing the way it goes?"

She looked over at her husband.

Miles agreed.

"That's right. There's no way I'm going to finish the new processor. Not now. Forget it. I'm out of it. I'll quit Cyberdyne tomorrow."

Sarah sighed.

"That's not good enough."

"No one must follow your work," the Terminator added.

Miles nodded in understanding.

"Right. All right, then we have to destroy all the stuff at the lab, the files, the disk drives, everything here. Everything. I don't care. The chip. Do you know about the chip?"

"What chip?" Amy asked for the group.

"They keep it at the vault at Cyberdyne. It must be from the other one like you," Miles finished, looking at the Terminator.

Amy's jaw dropped and Sarah's face grew into a frown.

"The CPU from the first Terminator."

Now the older woman had grown to be angry again.

"Son of a bitch! I knew it!"

Miles looked around in alarm.

"They told us not to ask where they got it."

"Those lying motherfuckers!" Sarah continued.

"It's scary stuff. Radically advanced. It was smashed. It didn't work, but it gave us ideas, took us in new directions. I mean, things we would've never tho- All my work was based on it."

Sarah stopped pacing and watched Miles.

"It must be destroyed," the Terminator announced.

"Can you get us in? Past security?" Sarah asked, seriously.

Miles nodded once again.

"I think so, yeah. When?"

The Terminator stood up and John shrugged with a sympathetic grin.

"Now?"

It took them about twenty minutes to grab all they needed and get to Cyberdyne Systems. The five of them headed straight for the entrance, dumping their bags behind a pillar at the front. They got in with Miles swiping his card and went up to the desk where a security guard was sitting with a magazine. He closed it as they came over to him.

"Hi. Carl, right?" Dyson said with a smile,"Friends from out of town. I just thought I'd ..."

"Hi!" John added for effect.

"...take 'em upstairs and show 'em around," he finished.

Carl's face did not change as he responded.

"Mr. Dyson, you know the rules concerning visitors in the lab. I need written authorization."

Suddenly, Sarah and the Terminator had turned guns on him.

"I insist," the Terminator said, menacingly.

Carl's had moved to the buzzer, but Sarah warned him against it. The two with guns then moved around the desk. The Terminator grabbed him and lifted him out of the chair after Sarah took his gun. John then pulled out a huge roll of duct tape. Dyson stared wide-eyed at the group before looking at Amy.

"How did you get into this group?"

Amy shrugged.

"It's all about who you know…"

After the security guard was taken care of, they grabbed their bags and went up the elevator. As they walked, Dyson explained how to get to the chip.

"Come on. It's okay. It takes two keys, turned simultaneously, to open the vault. They have to be turned simultaneously. The other one is in a locker at the security station."

They reached a door and Dyson opened it. Going inside, he walked up to a vault and swiped his card. This time, the reader beeped red.

"My card should access this," he said, swiping repeatedly with no change in outcome.

"What?" Sarah asked," What is it?"

The others looked around before Miles realized the problem.

"Damn it. The silent alarm's been tripped."

Amy watched as John examined the card reader. He pulled his backpack in front of him and pulled out a device Amy knew from all the times John had broken into places and ATMs. She didn't need an explanation when John handed her his bag.

"It's neutralized all the codes in the entire building," Miles continued, unaware of what John was doing," Nothing will open anywhere now. We have to abort."

"No!" Sarah said, firmly," We go all the way. Okay?"

Miles sighed and nodded.

Amy cleared her throat and everyone looked over at her and John.

"Hey, you guys get started on the lab. I can open this," John told them.

The adults agreed and moved off toward the lab with the Terminator while John and Amy stayed back with the vault. As they continued working, Sarah suddenly shouted.

"John! Amy! Fire in the hole!"

Peeking around the corner, John and Amy's eyes widened to see the Terminator pulling out the big gun to blast down a door. The teenage boy quickly pushed Amy back into the corner of the wall just as the door blasted open. They covered their ears from the sound. Uncovering their ears, they looked up at each other. Amy blushed slightly, making John do the same. John was pressed really close against her. John coughed and pulled back.

"Sorry, now back to work."

He sat down on the ground as he waited for the numbers to show up. Amy just stayed leaning against the corner. She checked around the corner and saw the blasted door for herself. Shaking her head, she looked down at John.

"You know, something, John?"

"Hm?"

"I'm not sorry I'm here with you even though I'm scared out of my mind."

John grinned up at her just as his decoder came up with the numbers.

"Alright!"

He got up and began putting in the numbers, so Amy moved around to his other side.

"7-2-5-6. Yes!"

The vault opened and John grabbed the key with a wink at Amy.

"Easy money."

They then moved off to find his mom, Miles, and the Terminator. John stopped as a light filled the room, causing Amy to bump into him.

"Uh-oh, back that way. Back!"

He went over to the computer screen. Looking over his shoulder, Amy saw what he did. There were cop cars and a helicopter surrounding the building.

"Oh shit, not good, not good"

John pulled his backpack back on before grabbing Amy's wrist and dragging her along with him to the others. Running into the room, they stopped by Miles.

"We got company," John announced.

"How many?" Sarah asked, exasperated.

"All of 'em, I think."

"Go," Sarah said," I'll finish here."

They all turned and moved out of the room. The Terminator took the lead as he pulled a bag onto his shoulder's.

"I'll take care of the police."

"Hey, wait!" John shouted," You swore!"

The Terminator stopped and turned to him.

"Trust me."


	10. Chapter 10

John and Amy followed Miles to the room where the chip was kept. The males turned the keys simultaneously, opening the door. The room was dark, but the open door left just enough light for them to see. Pressing two panels on the wall inside the room, two sections opened. Behind one section was the chip in a case and the other had a mechanical arm held in a glass capsule. Miles grabbed the chip before pointed for John to get the arm.

"All right now, in order to get that out you have to just ..."

The boy only swept the capsule off of its stand and the glass shattered into pieces. He then grabbed the chip and threw it on the ground as well, opening the case. Amy laughed at the look on John's face.

"He's just like his mother sometimes," she commented as John swooped down to pick up the arm and the chip.

"Charming," Miles replied.

"We got Skynet by the balls now, don't we?" John smirked, stashing the chip in his jacket pocket," Come on, let's book."

They made it back to the room where Sarah was in almost no time at all.

"Ready to rock?" John asked, raising the arm in the air.

"Ready."

As the Terminator came back in, Amy shoved the arm into John's backpack.

"Time to go. Now," he announced.

Sarah grabbed two masks and shoved them at the teenagers.

"Take this. They'll use gas."

John led Amy and the Terminator back out of the room.

"Get started on the door," Sarah continued," Miles, hand me the detonator."

They had just turned the corner when they heard guns going off. John turned to go back, but the Terminator grabbed him. They made their way back to the room with the security cameras to see what was going on. They saw Sarah stuck in a room while Miles was in no position to move as he had been shot multiple times.

"Shit! She's in the clean room. There's no way outta there," John told them.

The two teenagers were astounded as the Terminator went straight through the wall behind him and grabbed Sarah, pulling her into the security room. The Terminator pulled out his blaster gun again, so Sarah grabbed the kids and told them to get down, shielding them from the blast. They followed after the Terminator afterwards. They had made it a little ways down the elevator when the explosion went off that they had set up. Miles had let them get far enough away before he had died. When the elevator reached the ground floor, those guarding the lobby threw a gas grenade. John and his mom shared as mask while John forced Amy's onto her face. The Terminator then moved out to take care of the threat. Sarah was keeping a lookout for the Terminator, which came in the form of a stolen van which he crashed through the door and turned for them to get in. Once in the van, Sarah shouted for him to go. As soon as they were off, Sarah pushed Amy and John to a side and covered them in bulletproof vests. It was awkward as Amy was shoved between John's legs with her back pressed up against his chest.

"No matter what happens, you stay under these vests. You got it?" Sarah told John.

"Yeah," he replied.

Sarah kissed him on the cheek. She hesitated and gave Amy a quick kiss on the head before covering their heads with vests. Amy was surprised, but John was happy, something he let her know by squeezing her shoulders with his arms, which he had wrapped around her. They heard Sarah shout that the chopper was coming. Not too long after that, gunshots were heard. John at one point checked to see what was going on but had to pull a vest up again as shots came in again. He covered in time as a few bullets hit the vest making Amy yelp. John's right arm, which was still around her, and his legs tightened, locking her close to him. Sarah shouted for John to stay down. The shooting continued until they heard Sarah shout. John's threw the vest off and shouted. Looking over, they could see she had been shot in the leg. The Terminator suddenly hit the brake on the van and the helicopter slammed straight into the back of the van. With a lurch and screams, Amy and John went tumbling forward over each other and Sarah slammed into the front of the van. The van suddenly tipped and they were sliding on their side. Amy's head slammed into the side of the van and she could feel a searing pain. The van ground to a stop soon enough. Amy groaned but pushed all the random things off of her and moved to find the others. She reached Sarah, who John was trying to help up. Amy helped as well and they followed the Terminator out of the back of the van. A man in a truck had stopped to check on them.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

They suddenly heard a truck going and looked up to see a huge truck coming their way.

"Holy shit!" John exclaimed," Come on, Mom! Come on!"

John and Amy began moving her toward the truck even before the Terminator asked the guy to borrow it. Sarah made sure the kids went in first and Amy was thrown into the same position as before to save room. Once Sarah was in, the Terminator took off.

"I'm bleeding. _Bad_," Sarah informed them.

"Keep pressure on it," John said, looking around the truck.

John noticed a shirt by Amy's foot and motioned to it. Amy picked it up and handed it to him.

"Here, see if this will work."

John made it as much of a bandage as he could, then he had Amy tie it around his mother's leg. Sarah looked back through the window.

"He's gaining," she noted.

"Step on it!" John demanded.

"This is the vehicle's top speed," the Terminator replied.

"That's absolute shit," Amy growled.

"I can get out and run faster than this!" John shouted.

The bigger truck slammed into the back of theirs.

"Dammit! That Terminator doesn't give up," Amy shouted.

"Coming up to the right!" Sarah continued.

John shouted again as the T-1000 slammed them at the side this time. They were now stuck between him and the highway railing. He had to back off as a truck came up in front of them. As they moved around, the Terminator turned to Amy.

"Drive for a minute."

"WHAT!" she exclaimed, yet leaned over and took the wheel.

"Where the hell are you going?" John shouted.

The Terminator didn't answer, but just opened the door and, holding onto the roof, stood up and aimed his gun at the T-1000's truck and shot.

"Take the off-ramp!" the Terminator shouted.

Amy turned the wheel quickly to the right. The truck came barreling after them.

"Shit!" John shouted, seeing the turn Amy was about to take over a curb," Hold on!"

They went straight through the gates of a CSI Steel company. The Terminator grabbed his second gun and moved off toward the truck that was now right up against their asses. John looked back and saw that the Terminator had caused the T-1000 to tip the truck, but thought better of telling Amy what was going on as she drove.

"Don't stop!" Sarah told her," Go straight."

"DUCK!" John shouted as they ran straight into a machine.

Amy was tugged to the side by John. When they had stopped, she looked up to see a metal spike where their heads had been moments before. With a whimper, her head dropped onto John's chest.

"Good driving, babe, good driving," he said, patting her head.

Sitting up, they looked out of the back to watch the Terminator shoot the T-1000 that had frozen due to the released liquid nitrogen in the truck it had been driving. John went out to meet the Terminator while Amy helped Sarah out of the car with her hurting leg. John and the Terminator were suddenly by them and rushing them up.

"Come on! We have to get out of here," John shouted.

Turning, the two females could see that the T-1000 was reforming because of the heat from the steel factory. Amy groaned and handed Sarah over to John. The Terminator then grabbed Sarah's other side and the four of them moved off into the factory. The Terminator weaved them between many bits of machinery to get them away from the T-1000. They came to a pit of hot melted metal, but it was too hot so they moved back. The T-1000 was close since they had to turn back. The Terminator stopped.

"Go. Run."

John protested.

"No! We gotta stick together!"

The Terminator turned to him as his mom held him back.

"John, you've got to go now."

"John," Sarah and Amy both said.

"Go. Now!"

"No!"

John fought against them, but they were able to pull him away. They kept moving and climbing up stairs to get as far away as they could. They kept moving, but they wound up running into the T-1000. Turning, Sarah had them go down to a lower floor by a chain. Looking back up, Sarah hadn't followed them, which caused John to shout after her. The conveyor belt they had landed on put her out of sight. Looking around, Amy grabbed John's arm.

"Come on, we have to go."

He followed her pulling. They moved along the bottom floor until they figured they were far enough away, and then went up again. Finding a remote and, hopefully, secluded corner they got down and hid there. The two were drenched in sweat from the heat of the steel mill. The two were exhausted and panting as they leaned against the machine behind them. Amy, still feeling the throbbing in her head from when she hit it, reached up. She hissed and retracted her hand to find blood.

"Lovely," she murmured.

Looking down at her ripped shirt, she tore the bottom half of it and put the green fabric to her head. John looked over and saw her trying to get rid of the blood.

"Here," he whispered, taking the cloth from her and cleaning the wound a bit," Don't worry. It hurts like a bitch, but it's small and isn't bleeding anymore."

"Thanks."

The two of them sat there for awhile. Amy suddenly stood up.

"I shouldn't be hiding with you. You're safer if he thinks I'm with you if I keep moving."

She was about to go, but John grabbed her arm with a muffled shout.

"No! Amy, don't-"

"Shhh."

She turned back and knelt down in front of him, a finger to his lips.

"If you shout he'll hear you. John, you have to let me go-"

"I can't, Amy, I can't!"

A few tears fell from his eyes and he brushed them away.

"You don't have a gun," he pointed out," You're not armed at all. You can't fight him without one. He'll kill you easily; I can't let you do that."

"That's not important. _You're _important, you have to understand that."

"But you're important to _me_, Amy. Don't leave me."

He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly, as if she were going to vanish at any moment.

"John, I-"

"JOHN!"

The two of them looked up.

"John. Help!"

John turned around.

"Mom?"

He instantly moved to get up. Amy followed him.

"John, are you sure about this?" she questioned, "Your mom doesn't seem the type to yell for help…"

She went ignored as John moved quickly, trying to find his mother. They appeared to find her, clutching onto a huge hook. They stopped as another Sarah came around the corner with a gun. Looking down, the two noticed that the "Sarah's" shoes were blending into the metal at its feet.

"Get out of the way, you two!" the real Sarah said.

Amy pushed John to the side as he shouted for her to shoot. She kept shooting till the T-1000 almost fell into the hot metal below, but she ran out of bullets. John and Amy ran to Sarah as the T-1000 advanced on them. The turned to run, but saw the Terminator coming up on a wheel with his gun pointed forward.

"Get down," Sarah said, shoving the children down and falling on top of them.

After he shot, they sat up to see the T-1000 very disassembled and screaming a strange high pitch sound before it fell into the hot metal below. When they were sure it was completely melted, then Amy and John ran over to help the Terminator up. His arm had been ripped off and a stake of some sort had gone through its body.

"Holy shit," was all John could say.

"I need a vacation," was the response.

Amy couldn't help but smile as the Terminator moved forward. They all went and looked over the edge.

"Is it dead?" John asked.

"Terminated."

John grabbed his backpack with the arm.

"Will this melt in there?"

"Yes. Throw it in."

John pulled it out of his backpack and tossed it with an "Adios".

"And the chip," the Terminator reminded him.

Rummaging in his shirt pocket, John pulled it out and tossed it in as well.

"It's over," Sarah sighed.

"No. There's one more chip," the Terminator said turning to Sarah.

He pointed to his head. Amy bit her lip.

"And it must be destroyed also."

Turning, he grabbed the control panel to one of the chains.

"Here. I cannot self-terminate. You must lower me into the steel."

John started shouting his protest and the Terminator could only apologize.

"No! No, it'll be okay. Stay with us. It'll be okay."

"I have to go away."

"No, don't do it. Please, don't go."

The Terminator grabbed the chain despite the continuing protests. John even tried ordering him to stay, but it did not work. Tears spilled down John's cheeks as he tried to stop the robot.

"I know now why you cry. But it's something I can never do."

John hugged the Terminator. Amy looked away, trying not to cry herself. The Terminator shook hands with Sarah before motioning for Amy to come close.

"I was ordered to follow your orders as well, but you never ordered me to do anything."

Amy furrowed her eyebrows at him.

"I don't understand. Why would you-?"

"Thank you. For many things. Amy."

The teenage girl could only gape at him and nod.

"S-Sure…"

Stepping onto a hook at the base of the chain, he looked back at them.

"Good-bye."

After he pushed himself away, Sarah pushed the button to lower him into the steel. As he melted, his hand was the last to disappear, making a thumbs up sign to them. When he was gone, Sarah tossed down the control and John collapsed onto her shoulder crying. Eventually, the three made their way out of the steel mill, hand in hand, and moved on to their new life. As a family.

Author's Note: It isn't over yet. Look out for the next few chapters, hopefully in the near future. I'm going to try and put out as many chapters before Spring Break ends. If I'm able to finish it by the end, I'll be astounded, but there is a lot more in store for Amy and John, who now have to deal with more…age-related problems. Thanks for reading and please keep reviewing!


	11. Chapter 11

3 Years Later:

"John! Amy! You're going to be late!"

Sarah sighed as she lay on the couch with her cup of coffee. Any day now her cancer would be taking over and she would be leaving two sixteen year olds alone to fend for themselves, but until then she was going to act normal. Every day was painful, but she refused to show that anything was any worse. Amy appeared at the bottom of the stairs and Sarah's eyebrows shot upwards.

"Oh, no, you don't. Back upstairs. Better clothes."

Amy put her hands on her hips and pouted. Her sandy blonde hair, straight as an arrow, fell around her shoulders as she pulled the hair tie out of her hair. Looking down at her outfit, she found nothing wrong with the black tube top and jean mini-skirt.

"It's not that bad…"

"Either less legs or less stomach, your choice."

The teenage girl sighed and turned back to the stairs. As she passed John on the way, he turned and slapped her ass. She stopped to glare at him as she snickered.

"Nice underwear, Amy."

"Oh, shut up!"

She disappeared upstairs as John jumped the last five stairs. He landed with a "Ta-da!" before frowning at his mother's facial expression.

"Oh, c'mon! What? She's hot, I can't help it!"

"You don't have to sexually harass her. If you want her, ask her out."

"You of all people know it isn't like that!"

"Grab breakfast."

"Ugh, fine."

John moved into the kitchen just as Amy came stomping down the stairs. She was now wearing jean short shorts and a Foo Fighters t-shirt. She stopped to lean over the couch Sarah was lying on.

"Better? Now I look like the female version of your son. Only with non-hairy legs."

"Much better."

John reappeared from the kitchen with two granola bars.

"Ames."

Amy turned and caught the granola bar he tossed at her. She caught a glance at the microwave clock and yelped. Jumping into her sneakers by the door, she grabbed John, and pulled him out the door.

"We're going to be late for school."

"Who cares?"

"Just come on! Bye, Sarah!"

"Adios, madre!"

"Yeah, bye."

Sarah watched the door close before shutting her eyes and lying back on the couch letting the pain eat away at her more. She listened to the ticking of the old clock in the living room and sighed.

"I can't leave them. They're just children."

She fell fast asleep and did not wake up until she heard her voice being called and someone shaking her. Her eyes popped open to see John. His dark hair hung in front of his eyes as he smiled at her.

"Mom, you slept the whole day! You have to get up."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah, Amy's just finished dinner."

"Oh…"

John extended an arm to her and helped her get up. They slowly made their way to the kitchen table where the food was set out. John helped her into a seat before sitting down in his seat across from Amy. Dinner was quiet as Sarah didn't talk very much. She didn't talk much before she found out about the cancer, but she talked even less afterwards. After the almost silent dinner, John helped his mother upstairs before finding Amy on her bed reading. With a sigh, he collapsed beside her. Rolling her eyes, she put her book on the ground and rolled onto her side to face him.

"Your entrances are far too dramatic."

"Sorry, I've just been thinking."

Amy examined his face to find him surprisingly serious.

"Oh? What about?"

John turned onto his side to face her.

"About how we're going to live without my mom when she is gone."

Lying on her back once more, the female teenager scooted closer to John and smiled up at him.

"We stay here and…get jobs, I guess."

"Hmm…I just…I don't want to lose my mom. I mean, I love you and everything, but living without my mom would be so…"

"I get it."

John looked down into Amy's shining brown eyes and knew she understood. She had lost her parents once, so of course she did. And she loved Sarah now as much as he did. John suddenly chuckled, confusing Amy.

"What?" she demanded.

"You're suddenly friendly with me after a week of practically hating me. What's that about?"

"Oh," Amy frowned and looked away from him," I just…I heard what you told your friends last week, but…I can't keep myself mad at you."

John groaned and rubbed his forehead.

"You heard that? Ames, I am really sorry. It was so stupid."

Amy shrugged.

"Whatever. I suppose even if you told them you haven't slept with me they would have assumed you did anyways since we live together."

"I should have told the truth."

"You know its whatever."

Amy's eyes were still trained in the opposite direction of him, making him feel guilty. Lifting his hand to her face, he turned her to look at him.

"I only told them that because I wanted them and every guy in our class to back off. I mean, all of them just want to get in your pants. It's a small school and everyone says you're the prettiest girl there. I just…got irritated. I've known you the longest, so I should be the only guy who can get with you and you're sort of like a sister to me, so I'm strangely overprotective."

Amy raised an eyebrow at him.

"So…do you see me as a sister or as a woman?"

John gaped at her for a moment before his face changed to being thoughtful.

"Uh…neither? Both? A mix? I…I don't know."

The female nodded and sucked quickly on her top teeth. Getting up off the bed she went over to her hamper.

"Alright, well, since it doesn't matter, I'm just going to get ready for bed."

"Huh? What are you-Woah, Amy!"

Amy had pulled off her t-shirt and tossed it into the hamper in one swift movement. John tried to get up and move to the door, but Amy beat him to the door.

"Something wrong? It doesn't bother you does it? I mean, I'm either nothing or everything to you, so let's find out."

She easily pushed him back to sit on her bed with just her finger. John covered his mouth with his hand and tried to steady his breathing. His heart was racing from worry of the unknown. His eyes flicked away from Amy as her shorts hit the ground with a soft sound. His hands began shaking as the bedroom lights went off and he heard the door lock click.

"Ames, I don't think this is a good idea…"

"Since when are you scared? You survived car crashes, a terminator, guns and explosives…and you suddenly can't handle figuring out what you think of your best friend as. A girl or a sister. You have to choose, John."

"Why do I have to choose?"

"Because I want to know."

Though it was dark, John could still see the outline of Amy's figure as she moved forward. The male scuttled backward, trying to move away from her. He did not want do figure his feelings now, but he was about to be forced to. Suddenly, the lights flicked on and he could see Amy standing in her black underwear. She was looking down at the ground just to her right with an emotionless stare.

"Just go, John."

"Wh-wh-what?"

"Just get out of my room."

He didn't moved, his brain too confused to make him do anything. Wasn't she about to jump on him? How was she just letting him leave?

"Amy, I-"

"GET OUT!"

John slowly moved toward the door, unsure of what to do. He stopped at the door and looked back at his best friend.

"Amy?"

"Leave me alone."

Her hand shook on the doorknob for a moment as she opened it. John was then swiftly pushed through the door and it was shut once again. He heard the lock click and the quiet sniffles that were the trademark start to Amy crying. He turned and knocked on the door.

"Don't cry. Amy, please. Open the door."

"Go away, John. I'm not even fucking female to you. Just leave me alone."

"Ames, come on."

She didn't respond again. He could only stand there and listen to her crying get farther away from the door before continuing from about the distance of her bed. John contemplated the ramifications of forcing the lock open to get into her room before deciding the odds would not be in his favor. Mentally berating himself he marched to his room, wishing he hadn't acted like such a wimp. She was right. He could escape a terminator, crash cars, handle guns and explosives, but he couldn't handle a female. Slamming his bedroom door, he collapsed on his bed.

"I am a damn idiot," he mumbled into his pillow.


	12. Chapter 12

Sarah noticed in the following days that John couldn't keep his eyes off of Amy. This was strange, but not as strange as the fact that Amy was going out of her way to give John the cold shoulder. Amy refused to talk to John. She would not respond to anything he said, despite how hard he was trying. It was actually irritating the older woman. After three days, Sarah couldn't take it anymore. The argument had been loud enough for her to hear, but she wished that they would just get over it.

"Alright! What is the problem with the two of you?" Sarah exclaimed, slamming her fork so hard onto the table that the prongs became embedded in the wood.

The teens both eyed the fork, but didn't speak. Amy turned a slight pink and John looked guiltily at his plate. Neither one was going to approach the subject. Sighing, Sarah pulled her fork up out of the wood and laid it down.

"Fine. Don't say anything. But may I remind the two of you that you are best friends. Don't make it so that if you two don't reconcile, I'll have to put Amy into the foster system."

Both of their heads jerked up so their eyes could meet hers. Sarah did her best to look as serious as possible. Amy's bottom lip trembled and John began defending her.

"Mom! You-you can't just say s-something like that! Amy is part of the family. This argument, it's not that big of-I mean, it is kind of but you can't just-"

"I'm sorry."

They both looked over at Amy who was poking her mostly eaten food with her fork. Her voice shook as she spoke.

"It's my fault. I…I'm acting immature."

She suddenly looked up at John with tear-filled eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm not very hungry anymore, so if I may be excused…"

Amy put her fork down and fled from the table. John stared after her, his mouth hanging open. His brain suddenly caught up to the situation and he glared at his mother.

"What was that for? Threatening her with foster home? You don't even know what's going on! How could you say something so insensitive without even-UGH! Damn it, mom."

John got up from the table and ran after Amy. Sarah sat quietly finishing her dinner.

"Tough love, Sarah, tough love…"

The teenage boy found Amy's door locked, just like it had been for the past few days. This time, John found no problem with picking the lock to get into her room. When he opened it, he found Amy throwing clothes into a bag on her bed. Bounding into the room, he snatched the bag off the bed and tossed it behind him into the corner of her room.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Amy brushed a tear away from her eye and looked away from him.

"Nowhere, I just…"

"Don't tell me that bullshit, Amy, I know damn well what you were planning. You're running away? Mom didn't mean that, I'm sure. She was probably just saying that so we'd start talking. It worked, if you noticed."

Amy looked up at the ceiling, willing the tears to soak back into her eyes. John stared at her for a moment before frowning.

"You've been afraid of this, haven't you? You always worried that my mom would kick you out."

The girl's eyes met his before bouncing away to another part of the room.

"You…you'd understand if-"

"I'd understand if I was ever living with people who weren't my real family? If you recall, that's how I met you."

The room was silent. Neither of them said anything until they heard heavy footsteps slowly making their way upstairs. The teenagers exited the room to see Sarah struggling up the stairs.

"Sarah!"

"Mom!"

The two of them went down and helped her up to her room. After lying her back in bed, she smiled over at them.

"Are you two talking now?"

They glanced at each other before nodding at her. She grinned and held out her hand to Amy, who took it.

"I would never send you away, Amy. We're a family. It was mean of me to threaten that, especially when I don't mean it."

Amy did her best to smile at Sarah. Bending down, she kissed the older woman's cheek.

"It's okay. Goodnight."

Amy looked over at John. They locked eyes for a moment before Amy turned and left the room. John was about to kiss his mother goodnight as well, but the woman held him back for a moment.

"John, you're not being fair."

"What?"

"You need to decide how you feel about Amy. When I'm gone, it will be too late. I was never able to give you a sibling. Do you look at her as the one you never got? Or is she closer to a friend? And if you think about it, would you ever want to be with her? I know you love her, but you need to figure out _how_ you like her. As your best friend or as a sister?"

John sat on the edge of the bed.

"I'm afraid of the answer."

"Why?"

"Because what if, years from now, I fall in love with my best friend and she rejects me. I would lose her forever."

Sarah laughed.

"You two have bonds that will keep you together no matter what happens. But she won't be able to sort out her feelings for then if you don't let her know how you see her now."

John nodded and kissed his mother's cheek.

"I'll try."

He walked to the door and turned off the light. Just as he was closing the door, he heard his mother call out.

"Keep the moans down to low setting. I want to sleep."

"MOM!"

John shut the door swiftly, but could hear his mother's laughter from inside the room. He shook his head.

"Unbelievable," he murmured to himself, making his way to Amy's room.

With a sigh, he knocked and opened her door to find her lying face down on her bed. Stepping into the room, he shut the door and crawled onto her bed. Lying by her side, he gently massaged her back.

"Don't," Amy whined, pushing his hand away," Don't try and make me want to talk to you."

John wrapped his arm around her waist and easily pulled her unto her back. His green eyes stared into her brown ones.

"I'm sorry, Amy, for being unsure. But, I'm willing to think about how I feel now. Let's pick up where you left off. I want to know if you're just a sister to me or if it's different. You won't be insulted if I don't look at you as a sister and more like a woman will you? I mean…I know we're close. Like…really, really close."

Amy shrugged.

"It wouldn't bother me, but I really don't want to do this right now."

Laughing, John bent down to her ear.

"You strip in front of me a few days ago and now you don't want to do anything. You're a tease, that's what you are."

Shivering from his breath on her ear, Amy rolled off of the bed and stood up. John got up and slid to the edge of her bed. Sitting there, he reached out and pulled her to him by the skirt she was wearing. Looking down at him, Amy frowned.

"John? What are you afraid of?"

His eyes lowered so that he was staring at the blue cloth of her shirt where it covered her stomach. Leaning his forehead there, he hugged around her waist.

"Losing you, Ames."

Amy scoffed.

"That would never happen."

John stood up and leaned his forehead against hers.

"Oh, yeah? And what are you afraid of?"

With a grin, John watched as Amy examined his face before turning her head to the side.

"I'm afraid of never being worth anything to you."

"What?"

John turned her back to face him.

"Amy, you're already worth more than anybody except my mom! What is this irrational fear of not being worth anything?"

"But three years ago…I couldn't do anything to help. I was just…there."

"Oh, for the love of-"

Amy yelped as she was suddenly swept off her feet and tossed back onto the bed. Looking up, she found John hovering over her with a stern look.

"I don't ever want to hear you say you didn't do anything ever again. You did something very important for me. You made it so I wasn't afraid for my own life, Amy. I was able to worry about _you_. Do anything to keep you alive. I wasn't worried about myself, which could have kept me from doing nothing and getting killed. Damn it, you don't get how important that really is."

"You're just saying that…"

"Do I _look_ like I'm lying to you?"

Amy sighed and looked him in the eye. She knew he wasn't lying. Reaching up, she stroked the left side of his face with her hand. Just that gentle touch made John feel inclined to act impulsively. He glanced down at the collar of her button down shirt and, without a word, leaned down on his elbows and brushed his lips against Amy's neck. She squeaked in surprise and at the ticklish feeling. She laughed as she felt John smile against her neck. She smacked his shoulder lightly.

"Don't do that!" she protested.

"Hang on; I want to hear you sound like a dog toy again."

"John!"

She squealed and squirmed as she felt the tip of John's tongue brush along her neck. He stopped as he began laughing at her. She hit him again.

"You're so mean."

"What? It's funny! Here, try doing it to me."

John pulled his t-shirt collar away from his neck. Amy hesitated, unsure. Her face turning red.

"I don't know…"

Letting go of his collar, the teenage boy lay down on the bed to the side of Amy.

"Listen. We both want to figure out if we're like siblings or best friends, right? Well, think of it this way. We make-out for awhile and…if we're like siblings, no dice. If we're more like best friends, we have to pry ourselves away from making my lie a reality. Comprende? It's really simple."

He watched as Amy thought about it. Her mouth twitched every time she was about to say something, but then she wouldn't speak. Grinning, John leaned over her.

"Do you want me to set the pace or do you want to do it? If I start, your shirt is coming off. What was with the conservative look today anyway?"

Amy laughed as he went for the edge of her shirt and easily swatted him back.

"Okay, okay, you win. Sheesh. Can we start with my clothes on?"

John moved to the center of her bed as Amy moved to being over him. She weighed almost nothing as she put most of her weight on him. With a nervous glance, she moved down to his neck. John tensed as he felt her lips on his neck. He gave an airy laugh when it tickled until Amy suddenly found a spot on his neck and began licking there. He gasped quietly before clamping a hand to his mouth. Amy's face suddenly loomed above him with a Cheshire Cat grin on her face.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Really? I'll do it again…"

"No you won't."

John reached out and tugged her face downwards, causing their lips to meet. His thumb rubbed her cheek as their eyes closed and their lips molded together. The kiss from three years ago popped into the teenage boy's mind and he noted that Amy's lips were fuller now. And possibly softer. They kissed like that for about a minute before John's tongue brushed between her lips, slightly parting them. He felt Amy recoil slightly before kissing him again. He did the same thing, only this time Amy's lips parted on contact with his tongue. He took her permission and moved between them. It was strange at first to both of them and Amy became a bit shy. Their breathing was a bit broken, but John opened his eyes to see her looking at him.

"Not okay?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"It's just different. My elbows kind of…"

"Oh, here."

John prompted them to trade spots and with Amy below him, he restarted the intimacy. He was surprised after awhile to feel Amy's hands slip under the edge of his shirt and move up his chest. The touch of her fingertips made his breathing get heavier and he couldn't help his hands from travelling to the buttons of her shirt. He had an issue with a couple buttons, making Amy smile into their kisses, but he eventually got her shirt open. Pulling away, he looked down at her. Her eyes watched his face intently as he let his hand slide down from her neck down to her stomach. He pushed her shirt off her shoulders, gently brushing her collarbone. He gave a small laugh and shook his head.

"I don't know if I'm just turned on by your anatomy or by you yourself."

Amy grinned.

"Then we have to try a little harder."

Sitting up, she grabbed John's shirt and pulled it off over his head. Tossing it to the floor, she shrugged off her shirt and slid out from between John's legs. She easily got him to move so that he could lean his back against the headboard of her bed. She then straddled his waist. His knees were up, keeping her as close to him as possible. Their lips met again. This continued like before, only now their torsos were pressed together. John couldn't explain the excitement he felt from being between her legs. Even thought she was still wearing her skirt, he was fully aware that her panties were just on the outside of his jeans. He held onto the soft skin of her back, pulling her torso as close against his as was possible. Feeling Amy's hands on his jeans didn't bother him and he let her simply slide them down his legs. They continued osculating until Amy slid her hips forward without warning. John moaned into Amy's mouth. She smiled, as she completely understood why. She did it a few times more for fun. He grabbed her waist to stop her so he could talk. She teased him slightly by wiggling in place a little before letting him speak.

"Okay! I get it. Amy, I get it. Damn, I get it."

"Get what?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

He sighed, letting his head land on her shoulder.

"You are _so_ not like a sister to me. Not even close."

The two just looked at each other for a moment before they both started laughing. John tried taking deep breathes.

"Ah, man, I don't think I can move," John said, letting his hands run up and down her arms.

"Me neither."

Their eyes locked. John grinned and Amy blushed.

"Want to finish just this…one time?" the teenage boy asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Without…doing it?"

"Without doing it."

"Can I keep what clothes I have left?"

"If you want."

With a decision made, they spent the night in Amy's room and Sarah said nothing about having heard a thing in the morning. And for four years, they managed to keep away from each other, until it just got to hard.

Author's Note: Next chapter is four years later. Hopefully it won't take me that long to get it out. Thanks for reading and please keep reviewing!


	13. Chapter 13

Four Years Later:

Sarah was gone. Though the pain of her absence remained in their hearts, John and Amy moved on with their lives. Sarah had made sure the house was completely paid for by the time of her death. John had insisted that he should be the only one to get a job, but Amy wouldn't listen. She insisted on having a job of her own to help. Finding work at a business constantly working to improve computers, John went to community college when he could. Amy did the same while working at a local diner. She was the youngest employee at the diner, and the other women loved to tease her about the handsome young man she lived with. Being good friends with twenty-five year old by the name of Lisa, Amy cleaned tables while trying to hide the blush on her face as Lisa talked about John.

"You should see the way he looks at you! Most boyfriends aren't that doting! What did you do to get him like that?"

Amy laughed and shook her head.

"I did nothing, I swear!"

"But he is your boyfriend?"

"_Yes_ for the millionth time."

"Lucky, lucky..."

The manager, a middle aged woman named Fiona, turned over the sign to show that the diner was closed before leaning on the counter as Amy moved to clean the counter.

"Today is your 21st, correct?"

Nodding, Amy smiled at Fiona.

"Indeed it is..."

Fiona smirked.

"Any _special_ plans with the boyfriend?"

Amy glanced up at Lisa and Fiona both to see them wiggling their eyebrows at her. Her face went a deep shade of crimson.

"Oh my gawd..."

Lisa squealed while Fiona laughed. Lisa placed all the containers of salt, pepper, and ketchup that needed to be filled on the counter where Amy hadn't yet cleaned.

"Is he good in bed?" she asked, nosily.

"Lisa! That's personal!" Amy protested, disappearing into the back.

Fiona hummed knowingly, making Amy poke her head around the door.

"What?"

The older woman strutted around the counter. She began helping Lisa with the containers.

"You haven't slept with him, have you?"

Lisa gaped in shock at Amy who's mouth dropped open.

"Really?"

Tossing the used towel into the hamper in the back, Amy grabbed a broom before coming back to the front.

"So what if we haven't? You can date for three years and still not...get there."

Lisa and Fiona watched Amy sweep the floor, her mind evidently elsewhere. They caught her glance into the big mirror on one of the walls. Lisa pranced over and grabbed the broom from Amy. She gave her a pointed look.

"It isn't because you're not sexy, sweetie. You're gorgeous. Give me that broom."

Fiona smiled and began placing containers back on tables. She pointed a ketchup bottle at the girl.

"You are going home early with that boyfriend of yours who just pulled up outside. You are to seduce him and tell us how it went."

Amy spluttered in shock from the blunt statement as John came strolling into the diner, knowing that the door was always left open for him. He winked at her and handed her a bouquet of red roses.

"Ames!" he smiled, kissing her," Happy Birthday! Are you alright? You're face is red. Have you been overworking yourself again? Hey, Fiona, Lisa."

The two women grinned.

"Hi, John," they responded, while smirking at Amy.

The younger girl dashed into the back to grab her things. In no time she was ushering John out the door.

"Thanks, ladies. See you later!"

Lisa called after them.

"Make sure to try as many posit-"

Amy pulled the door shut as quickly as possible, muffling the end of the woman's sentence. Glancing up at John, she sighed with relief at the puzzled look on his face.

"What was she saying?"

"Just furniture positioning. She got into the Feng Shui stuff."

"Ah."

As he opened the door for her, she smiled. After she was seated, he leaned into the car and kissed her gently. As he pulled away, Amy blushed and glanced over at the diner. She groaned as she saw Lisa and Fiona watching through the window. John looked over where she was and chuckled before closing the door and going over to the driver's side. During the ride home, he talked about how his work had gone today. Amy nodded and agreed at the right moments, but her mind was elsewhere. Would they do it tonight? She glanced over at John who was chatting away, his face always changing with his tone of voice. She squeezed the bouquet in her hands, trying to put her nerves away. She was sure he was the one she would spend the rest of her life with. She had thought about it very hard. The Terminator's last words to her. That she could have ordered him to do things as well, but hadn't. Looking out the window, she wondered how things might have gone if she had figured out that he meant that the John of that future had told him to listen to her. What if she had known at thirteen that she would end up marrying John? Would they have gone farther than they had by now?

"Are you sure you're okay, Amy?"

They had reached the house and John was looking at her curiously. She glanced over at him and nodded.

"Yeah, I was just zoning out from being tired."

John pouted.

"You can't be tired now. I decorated the living room and actually cooked dinner. I even baked the cake! All the alcohol in the world is waiting for you inside."

Amy laughed and got out of the car with him.

"So, that means I am going to die today."

John grunted at her before moving over to her. He put an arm around her shoulders and practically shoved her into the house. Amy was shocked to find the table set with candles and more flowers. Their dinner sat still warm foil. The light was dimmed low.

"Oh, John..."

She turned to him to see him smiling as he took the flowers from her hand and put them on a table. He wrapped her up in his arms.

"Like I didn't know that the girls at your work place were being pushy about tonight. Positions? Come on. I'm a guy, of course I got that."

Amy blushed and buried her face in his chest as he laughed.

"You know...you could have just told me you wanted to do that," John continued.

"I just don't want my coworkers coercing me into doing something we can do on our own time," Amy mumbled into his shirt.

John's hand stroked her soft hair.

"Do you want to, though?"

Amy nodded quickly.

"But, not after drinking alcohol for the first time," she added.

Her boyfriend laughed at her.

"Alright, then you can choose sex or alcohol after dinner, hm? Though, before food..."

John pulled a box out of his pocket. Amy's eyes widened as he knelt down in front of her.

"No way..." she said.

"Yeah way," he grinned," Amy, would you marry me? You're the only girl for me, ever. Let's take our time doing everything together. Whether we are together tonight, have kids sooner or later, whether we get a dog for company, I want to make those decisions with you. Always you."

He slipped the ring on her left hand before she tackled him to the floor with kisses. He was laughing at first until the kisses became more passionate. He halted her lips with a finger.

"I see you aren't choosing the alcohol. And I would gladly have you right here and now...but I made dinner..."

Amy rolled her eyes and got off of him and the floor.

"Whiny," was all she said before letting him lead her over to the kitchen table.

With that start, Amy had one of the best birthdays of her life and enjoyed the rest of her life with John eventually their little girl.

Author's Note: The end :)


End file.
